Pending the signature of Montana’s governor, Greg Gianforte, the state is prepared to ban TikTok on personal devices as well as bars app stores from offering TikTok. It would be the first state in the U.S. to pass legislation prohibiting downloads of the wildly popular video-streaming app within state lines.

KTVH reports that Montana’s House of Representatives voted 54-43 in favor of the bill on Friday afternoon. This comes on the heels of the state’s Senate approval of the bill back in March. Set to go into effect in January 2024 if signed, SB 419, as the bill is known, would fine any “entity” $10,000 for even discrete violations of the ban, with an additional $10,000 for each day the violation continues. Montana also banned the use of TikTok on state devices last year.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, “It’s unclear how some elements of the legislation would be enforced,” but the penalties would apply to ByteDance or the app store from which the app was downloaded, including Apple and Google.

Should the United States enact a federal ban on TikTok or if “TikTok severs its Chinese connections,” the bill explains, it would be void. Montana’s GOP-controlled legislature sure is leading this effort, which is more sweeping than bans in place in nearly half the states and even the federal government.

TikTok is owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, which has been under intense scrutiny over concerns it could give user data from its 150 million TikTok accounts to the Chinese government to spy on U.S. citizens or use the personal data to push pro-Beijing disinformation on the platform.

This development also follows the Biden administration’s continued negotiations with TikTok, directing it to divest from its Beijing-based corporate parent company or risk a nationwide shutdown. 

Furthermore, bill S.686 has gathered bipartisan support to give the Department of Commerce the authority to ban apps controlled by “foreign adversaries,” which could apply to TikTok. In March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced brutal questioning from lawmakers in Washington where he attempted to subdue bipartisan fears about the viral app.

According to NPR, supporters of the ban point to a 2017 Chinese intelligence law that requires private companies to hand over data about consumers if requested, despite TikTok’s response that it would never comply in that circumstance.

TikTok has also been pushing back and preparing to challenge the ban. Their spokesperson, Brooke Oberwetter, told Insider via email, “The bill’s champions have admitted that they have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices…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.”

This is significant for supporters as it lays the groundwork for other states to follow suit. A federal court challenge is expected soon, likely setting up a legal battle that could even land in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

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