Montana’s Plan to Bank TikTok Is a Preview for the Rest of the Country

The proposed ban would take effect in 2024.

The moves in Montana are part of a intensifying technological cold war between the United States and China, with TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, caught in the middle.

Last month, members of Congress grilled Shou Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, for roughly five hours about whether the app could provide data to the Chinese government or be used to spread propaganda. In the last five years, U.S. officials have also cut off Chinese telecom companies from major suppliers, subsidized stateside manufacturers to compete with Asian chip makers and forced a Chinese company to sell the dating app Grindr.

Brooke Oberwetter, a spokeswoman for TikTok, said in a statement that there were “thousands of TikTok creators and users in Montana” who “deserve to have a seat at the table in any conversation that impacts them and their livelihoods.” TikTok has denied giving user data to the Chinese government.

Mr. Knudsen, a Republican, said his team had received scores of complaints from parents about TikTok content referring to drugs, suicide or pornography. As the state’s legislative session approached this year, his office began looking at the idea of fully banning the app.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/12/technology/tiktok-ban-montana.html