A judge in a Montana court has stopped TikTok from being banned for now. The judge revealed that TikTok has a good chance of winning its case against the ban. He said the law in Montana goes against free speech and the power the federal government has in dealing with other countries.
The judge believes the Montana officials focused more on blaming China through TikTok than actually protecting the people in Montana who use the app. TikTok, owned by a Chinese company, has been accused by some US politicians of being influenced by China. But TikTok has denied the allegation.
The law in Montana said the ban on TikTok would be lifted if it is bought by a company from a country not seen as an enemy by the US. TikTok said the ban would violate people’s right to free speech. It is seen as a test for a possible ban of TikTok across the whole country.
The ban in Montana said that every time someone uses, tries to use, or tries to download TikTok, they could be fined $10,000 each day. It also directed Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores. Critics, like Keegan Medrano from ACLU Montana, said the state leaders are stopping people from speaking freely just because they dislike China. This legal fight is part of bigger arguments between TikTok and Western countries.
The app is already banned on government devices in the US, Canada, and some European countries.
