Montana will soon become the first state in the United States to ban TikTok, a media company owned by China, from personal devices.
Lead representative Greg Gianforte marked the boycott into regulation on Wednesday. Producing results on 1 January is expected.
“Infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana,” the video-sharing platform claims.
Because of concerns that data could be given to the Chinese government, TikTok has come under scrutiny from authorities all over the world.
Republican Mr. Gianforte told lawmakers that “our shared priority to protect Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance.” would be enhanced by a more expansive ban.
In a statement, TikTok said that “hundreds of thousands of people” in Montana used it.
“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,” it added.
By a vote of 54 to 43, lawmakers in Montana approved a bill last month that prohibits TikTok from being used on personal devices.
Although it will be illegal for app stores to offer TikTok, the law does not prohibit TikTok users from using it.
In December of last year, the app was removed from government devices in Montana, which has a population of just over 1 million.
TikTok claims 150 million American users. Although the app’s user base has grown in recent years, teens and 20-somethings still make up the majority of its users.
Nonetheless, there are worries across the US political range that TikTok could be a public safety risk.
TikTok is claimed by ByteDance – a Chinese organization.
Shou Zi Chew, the chief executive of TikTok, was questioned in March by a congressional committee about whether the Chinese government could access user data or influence what Americans see on the app.
Despite admitting that employees had used the TikTok accounts of journalists to obtain information about them, Mr. Shou repeatedly stated that it would never spy on Americans.
ByteDance was told in March to sell TikTok or face a possible ban in the United States.
Companies are subject to the penalties, but individual users are not. Firms that violate the law face punishments of up to $10,000 (£8,012), which would be implemented by Montana’s Branch of Equity.
This indicates that if technology giants like Apple and Google permit TikTok to be downloaded from their app stores in Montana, they could be subject to fines.
ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, has repeatedly denied that the Chinese government is in charge.