Montanas House of Representatives today approved a bill that would ban streaming appTikTok.
It now moves to Republican Gov.
Greg Gianforte, who can sign it into law.
If approved, Montana would be the first state to ban TikTok downloads.
The legislature and critics of the streaming service fear the Chinese governments potential to hoard US user data.
That could potentially enable them to mount disinformation campaigns or otherwise manipulate users.
Under Montanas bill, it would be illegal to allow downloading of TikTok in the state.
Violators would face a fine of $10,000 a day.
App stores like Apple and Google would be vulnerable, as would the TikTok site itself.
It is unclear what the outcome would be for those with the app already on their devices.
The timing would allow TikTok to launch a federal court appeal.
Keegan Medrano, ACLU of Montanas policy director, issued a statement condemning the action.
Banning TikTok in Montana is censorship, pure and simple.
Targeting one app from one country does not solve whatever problem the Montana legislature thinks theyre solving.
We wont stop fighting against this unconstitutional ban.
