TikTok sued Montana on Monday over a new legislation banning the app nationwide next year.
The complaint comes less than a week after Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed SB 419, the first state legislation banning the popular streaming app.
The legislation, which takes effect in January 2024, bans TikTok "within the territorial jurisdiction of Montana" and requires mobile app companies to remove it from Montana's app shops.
“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of Montana users,” TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter said Monday.
“Our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”
TikTok's lawsuit follows civil rights organizations like the ACLU's criticism since the Montana state legislature enacted the measure in April. The complaint alleges the prohibition violates the First Amendment and is unconstitutional.
TikTok claims that only the federal government can address national security risks, making these prohibitions illegal.
TikTok filed its second Montana ban lawsuit on Monday. TikTok creators sued last Thursday, alleging it unlawful and violating their free expression rights.
Montana's prohibition is the first state restriction, although TikTok has fought prior federal bans. Former President Donald Trump's executive measures to prohibit that and other Chinese applications like WeChat were denied by US federal courts.
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