US state votes for total TikTok ban - how does this work?

Montana has become the first state in the US to completely ban TikTok after concerns were raised internationally over potential Chinese spying linked to the social media app.

The House voted 54-43 in favour of the measure last month, and the legislation came into force on Wednesday.

Republican Governor Greg Gianforte said in a statement: “Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party."

The measure is expected to be challenged legally and will serve as a testing ground for the TikTok-free America that many national lawmakers have envisioned.

It goes further than prohibitions already put in place by nearly half the states - including Montana - and the US federal government that prohibits TikTok on government-owned devices.

Mr Gianforte banned TikTok on state government devices last year, saying at the time that the app posed a “significant risk” to sensitive state data.

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter promised a legal challenge over the measure's constitutionality, saying the bill's supporters “have admitted that they have no feasible plan” to enforce “this attempt to censor American voices.”

The company "will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and First Amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach,” Ms Oberwetter said.

Why is there concern over TikTok?

TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, has been under intense scrutiny over worries it could hand over user data to the Chinese government or push pro-Beijing propaganda and misinformation on the platform.

Leaders at the FBI and the CIA and numerous lawmakers - both Democrats and Republicans - have raised such concerns but have not presented any evidence that it has happened.

Ban supporters point to two Chinese laws that compel companies in the country to cooperate with the government on state intelligence work.

They also cite troubling episodes such as a disclosure by ByteDance in December that it fired four employees who accessed the IP addresses and other data of two journalists while attempting to uncover the source of a leaked report about the company.

Congress is considering legislation that does not single out TikTok specifically but gives the Commerce Department the ability more broadly to restrict foreign threats on tech platforms.

That bill is being backed by the White House, but it has received pushback from privacy advocates, right-wing commentators and others who say the language is too expansive.

TikTok has said it has a plan to protect US user data.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, whose office drafted the state’s legislation, said in a social media post Friday that the bill “is a critical step to ensuring we are protecting Montanans’ privacy,” even as he acknowledged that a court battle looms.

How would a ban actually work?

On Wednesday, Gianforte also announced he was prohibiting the use of all social media applications tied to foreign adversaries on state equipment and for state businesses in Montana effective on June 1.

Among the apps he listed are WeChat, whose parent company is headquartered in China, and Telegram Messenger, which was founded in Russia.

The legislation, drafted by the attorney general’s office, easily passed through Montana’s GOP-controlled Legislature.

Gianforte had wanted to expand the TikTok bill to include apps tied to foreign adversaries, but the legislature did not send the bill to him until after the session ended, preventing him from offering any amendments.

The measure prohibits downloads of TikTok in the state and will fine any “entity” - an app store or TikTok - $10,000 (£8,050) per day for each time someone “is offered the ability” to access or download the app.

There would not be penalties for users.

The bill was introduced in February, just weeks after a Chinese spy balloon drifted over Montana, but had been drafted prior to that.

A representative from the tech trade group TechNet told state lawmakers that app stores do not have the ability to geofence apps on a state-by-state basis, so the Apple App Store and Google Play Store could not enforce the law.

TikTok, which has said it has a plan to protect US users, has vowed to fight back against the ban, along with small business owners who said they use the app for advertising to help grow their businesses and reach more customers.

Others have also opposed the bill, arguing it was an unconstitutional restriction of free speech.

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