Montana is the first state to ban the use of TikTok. The state cited fears that the Chinese-owned company is stealing the private data of its U.S. users.

“The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,” Montana’s Gov. Greg Gianforte, R, said. TikTok is fighting back, filing a lawsuit that alleges the ban — slated to start early next year — violates the U.S. Constitution.

Straight Arrow News contributor David Pakman wonders if any of this matters because even if the ban holds up in court, he thinks it’ll be nearly impossible to enforce.

I don’t believe it’s the role of state government to decide which apps people can or cannot use based on whatever is being used to determine that TikTok isn’t allowed, but Facebook or whatever, is. If you want to pass a law that specifically addresses what information can or cannot be collected by an app — or as has been done in Europe, you have to pop up a disclaimer saying, “Hey, we collect ABC in a way that is conspicuous” — that’s one thing and I would be fine with that if that’s what Montana or the United States wanted to do. 

But this is, at the end of the day, going to be a law that is targeted in a particular way and that I do believe is limiting on speech, and unfairly is targeting TikTok. Doesn’t mean there aren’t concerns, but pass the laws based on activities, rather than saying we are banning TikTok. 

Now, what do I think the long-term trajectory of this ban is going to be? I actually don’t think it’s going to hold up. And even if it does, it’s not really going to prevent Montanans from using TikTok, because as I said, if you already have it on your phone, you can have until December 31 to install it. If you leave Montana, install it and come back, that’s all allowed. You can also use a proxy. You can use a VPN — there’s all these different things. I think it has very little teeth. It’s a virtue signal from the governor, Greg Gianforte. I believe it will not stand. And even if it does, it won’t really change very much.