Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has signed into law a measure to severely restrict the app TikTok, making his state the first to enact a near-total ban on the social media platform in the United States.

The law, slated to take effect on January 1, 2024, would bar TikTok from operating in Montana. It would also prohibit app stores from offering TikTok for download within state lines — a ban that tech companies fear will be impossible to implement and free speech advocates see as a violation of their First Amendment rights.

TikTok, owned by the Beijing-based internet technology company ByteDance, boasts more than 1 billion users around the world, 150 million of which are based in the US. It also employs 7,000 people in the United States.

But while China and TikTok’s owners have repeatedly denied that the video-sharing app is a threat, TikTok has earned bipartisan scrutiny in the US and other countries over questions of privacy, surveillance and alleged ties to Beijing’s government.

Taiwan National Day Celebration

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