“To protect the personal and private data of Montana residents from the Chinese Communist Party, I have banned TikTok in Montana,” Ganforte, a Republican, wrote on his Twitter account.
“Tik Tok” has become a divisive issue amid escalating political and economic tensions between the United States and China, as Republicans and Democrats have united on one stance in calling for it to be banned.
Earlier this year, the US government called for the app, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, to be banned over concerns it was collecting data on its 150 million US users for “Chinese espionage purposes”. “.
Details of the new legislation
The legislation, which is expected to take effect next January, prohibits TikTok from operating in Montana and prevents mobile app stores from authorizing its availability. It includes penalties for non-compliance, as app and app stores, such as “Google Play” or “Play Store,” can face fines of $10,000 per violation per day, according to the new law. In the state of about 1.1 million people, it’s unclear what will happen to TikTok users who downloaded the app before the law took effect. The US statewide ban, which free speech advocates fiercely oppose, comes amid growing security concerns from governments and official agencies in the United States and around the world. certain European countries concerning the relations of the company’s subsidiaries with Beijing via its Chinese parent company.
What did Tik Tok say?
China previously opposed a US request to separate the US branch “Tik Tok” from its Chinese owners. TikTok commented on the move, saying the app ban in Montana is “unlawful.” “We want to reassure Montanas that they can continue to use TikTok to express themselves, earn a living and find community as we continue to work to defend the rights of our users inside and outside. outside of Montana,” TikTok added. The federal government and more than half of U.S. states have banned the app to government agencies, and the Biden administration has threatened a nationwide ban unless the parent company sells its stock.
The future of “Tik Tok”
For his part, the digital media and e-marketing consultant, Muhammad Al-Harthy, clarified in statements to “Sky News Arabia” the repercussions of the new American decision concerning the application “Tik Tok”, and its future in the country, at a number of points, saying:
There is an ongoing interest in ‘Tik Tok’ collecting data and information from users, and this is common to a number of other social media apps such as ‘Facebook’.
In the recent period, a decision was taken to ban “Tik Tok” in some official institutions in the United States, and the European Commission decided to ban the application on the phones of its employees, due to information security concerns and spying on employees. data.
The balloon incident has Americans fearing Chinese espionage, given the Chinese government’s ability to obtain data from any company within it, and there are concerns that the app has different dimensions linked to political conflict, other than being a social networking platform.
Regarding the future of the application, it is difficult to completely ban “Tik Tok” in the United States because of dimensions related to the number of users which is increasing day by day, and so that the material is not used politically related to freedom of expression. , and there will be another continuation of the application in Europe and other countries.
“Tik Tok” will face a problem with growing calls to ban it and see it as leverage on China.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
