A TikTok ban was just signed into law by Montana’s governor. Here’s everything to know

Greg Gianforte, the Republican governor of Montana, has signed into law the first statewide TikTok ban in the United States. Depending on which side of the argument you fall on, the ban is being hailed as a way to protect citizens from the Chinese Communist Party or is an assault on the freedom of speech that all Americans are guaranteed. Here’s what you need to know:

• What’s happened? On Wednesday, Gianforte signed a TikTok ban into law. The ban was passed by the state’s legislature weeks before and comes at a time of growing tensions between the United States and China. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance.
• What does the ban entail? The ban will prevent TikTok from operating in the state of Montana and fine violators $10,000 per violation per day.
• So will a TikTok user in Montana be fined $10,000 per day? No. The law stipulates that users will not be the ones fined, but the companies that are enabling them to use the app, notes Reuters. This obviously means TikTok itself would be subject to a raft of daily $10,000 penalties, but so would Apple and Google, which distribute the TikTok app via their app stores.
• Is the ban in effect immediately? No. The ban will go into effect on January 1, 2024.
• What does the governor say about the ban? In a post on the Montana Governor’s website, Gianforte alleges that, “The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented.” He added, “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.”
• Who is opposing the ban? Plenty of civil liberty and free speech advocates have spoken out against it. In a statement to Reuters, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Montana said lawmakers have “trampled on the free speech of hundreds of thousands of Montanans who use the app to express themselves, gather information, and run their small business in the name of anti-Chinese sentiment.” And Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), told Quartz, “I am very concerned about the privacy implications of social media, but I think the way forward is to have comprehensive privacy protections against all of these systems.”
• What has TikTok said about the ban? Reached for comment, a TikTok spokesperson said, “Governor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok, a platform that empowers hundreds of thousands of people across the state. We want to reassure Montanans that they 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.”
• What have Google and Apple said about the ban? Neither Google nor Apple has made public comments about the ban, but given the potential fines against them, the companies are certainly considering the matter closely. Fast Company has reached out to both tech giants for comment.
• What happens now? For now, the Montana TikTok ban is not in effect and won’t be until January. However, before then it is likely numerous parties will bring lawsuits against the state to get the ban dismissed. The most likely argument put forward is that it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees free speech.

This post has been updated with a response from TikTok.