A federal appeals court Friday upheld a law that could ban popular social media app TikTok across the country.
Separate litigation over Montana’s statewide TikTok ban has been on hold since May, awaiting a conclusion in the federal case. TikTok signaled it would take Friday’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving Montana’s ban in limbo.
Montana’s ban was set to go into effect earlier this year, but it was blocked by court order before that could happen. The nationwide ban was signed into law this spring by President Biden. It will go into effect if TikTok is not sold by its Chinese parent-company by January.
The ban is motivated by concerns over Americans’ data being accessible to the Chinese government.
A spokesperson for the Montana Attorney General said they applauded the court’s decision to uphold the national ban.
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A recent report from the American Farm Bureau Federation showed that Montana lost millions of dollars worth of crops due to extreme weather; A federal judge in Montana this week extended a pause in an ongoing lawsuit over the state’s attempt to ban TikTok. -
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen Thursday filed a lawsuit against social media company TikTok. The suit alleges the platform knowingly directs addictive and harmful content to minors. -
The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes say Montana’s TikTok ban, if implemented, would overstep tribal sovereignty. The tribes filed a brief this week to join the legal battle over the ban. -
The law is seen an important test case. More than a dozen other states are weighing similar bans of the wildly popular video-streaming app, which is owned by a Chinese tech company. -
A federal judge in Missoula heard arguments Thursday on Montana’s law to ban Tik Tok in the state. The judge pressed state attorneys over previous statements made by the attorney general that appear to contradict the state’s legal defense.
