Disabled | Montana State in the United States takes the lead in legislating a comprehensive ban on TikTok, with fines of up to $10,000

Montana State in the US has banned TikTok and imposed fines of up to $10,000 for violating the ban

In March of this year, TikTok CEO Zhang Yiming attended a U.S. Congressional hearing on TikTok’s data security issues. He argued with members of both parties for five hours, defending TikTok’s position and denying the existence of any “national security risks,” winning widespread praise. It was thought that TikTok’s fate in the United States would take a turn for the better, but things did not go as planned.

According to reports from multiple media outlets, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419 on Thursday, May 18th, which is set to take effect on January 1, 2024. This ban is considered the strictest measure taken by states against TikTok.

About the ban

Under Montana law, the ban targets companies, not TikTok’s daily users. Platforms that provide downloading programs to residents of the state may face fines of $10,000 per day.

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For example, Apple and Google, which operate application stores on phones and devices, could be punished for allowing people to download TikTok. Apple and Google have not yet commented on the law.

In recent years, TikTok has been accelerating its global e-commerce expansion, with total revenue in the e-commerce sector expected to reach CNY 1.41 trillion in 2022. In just five years, it has accumulated one billion users, faster than Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

eMarketer

According to TikTok’s year-end report, the total value of its international cross-border business increased by 136% last year, and the social media application has set a new GMV target of $23 billion for 2023.

TikTok creators sue

It is reported that TikTok users in the United States have filed a lawsuit against the Montana government for its ban on downloading and using TikTok in the state, claiming that the Montana government is trying to exercise power it doesn’t have over national security affairs and suppress freedom of speech.

Regarding TikTok, the company has already invested $1.5 billion in a data security plan called Project Texas, which aims to isolate the data of all Americans from China. TikTok obviously cannot accept this ban.

Yahoo!

In response, TikTok has expressed opposition to Montana’s decision, but has not yet decided whether to file a lawsuit. However, it is expected that TikTok will seek a judicial review of the state government’s decision, which is bound to have an impact on whether TikTok will eventually be banned in the United States.

If TikTok is banned, it will more or less affect cross-border e-commerce companies, especially in brand promotion, user interaction, and market insight. As a seller, what we can do is to “optimize” operations to the greatest extent possible, and logistics is an important part of gaining consumer trust.

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