Creators Sue Over Montana TikTok Ban

A group of TikTok creators has filed a lawsuit challenging Montana’s ban on the popular app.

The move comes after Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419, making Montana the first US state to prohibit use of or access to the social network for everyone.

Set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, the law “attempts to exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress,” according to Wednesday’s filing with the US District Court in Missoula, Montana.

“Montana has no authority to enact laws advancing what it believes should be the United States’ foreign policy or its national security interests, nor may Montana ban an entire forum for communication based on its perceptions that some speech shared through that forum, though protected by the First Amendment, is dangerous,” the suit says(Opens in a new window).

Under the law, ByteDance-owned TikTok and app stores (like Apple’s App Store and Google Play) that list it for download could be fined $10,000 each time someone accesses or is offered the ability to access the platform—plus an additional $10,000 every day thereafter. Penalties do not apply to individuals who download or use TikTok.

“Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban The Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes,” the lawsuit says. “Even if Montana could regulate any of the speech that users share through TikTok, SB 419 wields a sledgehammer when the First Amendment requires a scalpel.”

Plaintiffs Samantha Alario, Heather Dirocco, Carly Ann Goddard, Alice Held, and Dale Stout create, publish, view, interact with, and share TikTok videos with “significant audiences.” These communities, the lawsuit argues, allow users to connect, build livelihoods, make friends, and share information.

“For some of the plaintiffs and other Montanan creators, being able to express themselves on TikTok has given them a great sense of purpose and positively impacted their mental health,” according to the complaint, which names state Attorney General Austin Knudsen as the defendant.

Knudsen “expected a legal challenge,” a spokesperson for his office told The New York Times(Opens in a new window), adding that he is “fully prepared to defend the law,” which will employ geofencing technology to restrict app use within state borders.

TikTok, meanwhile, says Gianforte’s bill “infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana,” but stresses that Montanans “can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.”

TikTok has been under intense scrutiny amid claims that Chinese owner ByteDance puts US users’ personal data at risk. As Axios notes(Opens in a new window), the law firm representing the TikTok creators, Davis Wright Tremaine, also sued over former President Trump’s 2020 executive order that sought to ban the app unless it was acquired by a US company, and secured an injunction(Opens in a new window) in October 2020. President Biden rescinded that executive order in mid-2021, though he later signed a spending bill that bans TikTok from government-issued devices.

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