TikTok CEO: Montana ban is unconstitutional

TikTok files suit in Montana seeking to overturn the first US state ban of the short-form video app on grounds the new law is unconstitutional.

TikTok's CEO Shou Chew called the ban “simply unconstitutional” on Tuesday while attending the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in US District Court in Montana claiming the state ban violates First Amendment rights of the Chinese owned company and its users.

Last week, five TikTok users and content creators also filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to block Montana's new law, which would take effect January 1st .

Both lawsuits argue that the state is seeking to "exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have and to ban speech Montana may not suppress."

TikTok, owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, argues the ban, unfairly “banishes” the company for purely punitive reasons, singling them out over other social media apps, over speculation the company shares its data with the Chinese government and is using the app to manipulate American people.

"The Chinese government never asked us for US users' data and we will not provide even if asked," Chew said.

In an effort to appease US lawmakers, the company had changed policy to store all US user data within the fifty states.

"Today by default, all US data is stored in the Oracle cloud service already," he said.

"We have built over the last two years something we call internally 'Project Texas', which ensures that American data is stored on American soil by an American company and overseen by American personnel," Chew added.

Chew, who was grilled by US lawmakers on Capitol Hill this March about the app's data privacy practices, said he is confident TikTok will prevail in a lawsuit challenging the decision.

TikTok said the ban violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution which limits the authority of States to enact legislation that unduly burdens interstate and foreign commerce.

Montana’s governor Greg Gianforte signed the new bill into legislation last Wednesday, making the western mountain state the first to ban the app over privacy and national security concerns.

The Montana ban would make it illegal for TikTok to operate in the state, as well as prohibit the app from being offered to Montana users in both the Android and Apple app stores.

The Montana ruling would fine TikTok $10,000 for each violation, and another $10,000 per day in additional penalties.

Individual TikTok users would be exempt from any penalties under the new law.