TikTok has filed a lawsuit to prevent the US state of Montana from prohibiting residents from using its social media platform.
The lawsuit filed on Monday comes after Montana became the first US state to impose a blanket ban on the Chinese-owned video-sharing network last week.
TikTok stated in a statement that the restriction violates free expression rights in the United States.
TikTok has drawn the attention of authorities around the world due to concerns that data could be transferred to the Chinese government.
The action, which was filed on Monday in the United States District Court for the District of Montana, seeks to overturn the “unlawful” ban.
“We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.”
The TikTok lawsuit argues that the ban violates the constitutional First Amendment right to free speech.
The company’s complaint states that the ban was “unconstitutionally shutting down the forum for speech for all speakers on the app”.
The prohibition is set to go into force in January 2024. It makes it illegal for app shops to sell TikTok, but it does not prohibit existing TikTok users from utilizing it.
Montana, which has a population of slightly more than one million people, banned the software from government devices in December.
TikTok claims to have 150 million American users. Despite the fact that the app’s user base has grown in recent years, it is still most popular among teenagers and users in their twenties.
However, there are fears across the political spectrum in the United States that TikTok could pose a national security risk.
ByteDance, a Chinese corporation, owns the social media network. ByteDance has often denied that the company is under the influence of the Chinese government.
The lawsuit also argues that Montana has overstepped its authority by concerning itself with users’ data and national security – which is the purview of the federal government.
It says the ban is based on the “unfounded speculation” that China’s government could access TikTok data.
Lawyers for Montana’s government have previously said that they expected lawsuits, and that they are prepared to defend the ban in courts.
