A federal judge has blocked a Montana law banning the popular video sharing app TikTok, finding “little doubt” that it was “more interested in targeting China’s extensible role in TikTok than with protecting Montana consumers.” The ruling, likely to be celebrated by consumers and free speech advocates alike, comes at a time when federal and state governments are grappling with how to regulate social media companies.
With over one billion monthly active users, chances are that you have heard of the wildly popular TikTok platform that is now owned and run by the Chinese company ByteDance. Allowing its users to live-stream anything from their latest lip-syncing battles of their favorite pop artist’s songs to controversial video content of government protests or operations—TikTok has understandably caught the attention and ire of governments (and parents) throughout the world.
Internet & Social Media Law Blog