Montana on Thursday was on the verge of implementing a total ban on TikTok, after a proposal passed a key hurdle in the legislature of the western US state.
If enacted, the proposed law would be unprecedented and test the legal waters for a national ban of the popular Chinese-owned app, a fate that is increasingly being called for in Washington.
The state’s Republican-led lower house overwhelmingly voted for a complete ban, with a final vote set for yesterday before it is sent to Montana Governor Greg Gianforte, who is expected to sign the bill into law.
Photo: AP
It passed by 60 votes for and 39 against.
TikTok said US courts would likely have the final word.
“The bill’s champions have admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices and that the bill’s constitutionality will be decided by the courts,” TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter said. “We will continue to fight for TikTok users and creators in Montana whose livelihoods and first amendment rights are threatened by this egregious government overreach.”
TikTok, despite its immense popularity, is caught in a battle of wills with the US government and politicians, and now faces an ultimatum by the White House that it split from its Chinese owners or stop operating in the US.
“We are facing a threat unlike any other from the Chinese Communist Party hiding behind TikTok where they can spy on Americans by collecting personal information by keystrokes and even user locations,” Montana Representative Brandon Ler said.
Under the proposed law, Apple and Google would have to remove TikTok from their app stores and companies would face daily fines of US$10,000 if they are found contravening the law.
The proposed ban would take effect next year, but faces almost certain legal challenges, given its unprecedented nature in the US, possibly going all the way to the US Supreme Court in Washington.
“I think there are a lot of ramifications, not the least of which is how you would do it,” University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said. “It is hard to see how the state would be able to defend it and win.”
When an earlier version of the bill passed in the Montana Senate, TikTok decried a “disastrous precedent” to limit free speech.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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