Montana becomes first state to ban TikTok, but court challenges are likely

[micknaboz]

Quote

Montana on Wednesday became the first state to enact a total ban on sales and use of TikTok in the state, as Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed legislation he said would “protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/17/tiktok-ban-montana/

Seems pretty crazy, I mean 1st Amendment and all.

So I don't see how this possibly survives court challenges, though if it made it that far, you never know what this right wing Supreme Court might do.

So anyone here view Tik Tok as a threat?  

 

[Herodotus]

12 hours ago, micknaboz said:

Seems pretty crazy, I mean 1st Amendment and all.

So I don't see how this possibly survives court challenges, though if it made it that far, you never know what this right wing Supreme Court might do.

So anyone here view Tik Tok as a threat?  

 

Yeah its a threat, but not in the errr mah gaw Chi-eye-na (how the fuck did agent orange get three syllables out of that?).  No its a threat in the way facebook, twitter, and hell even this place are in that it allows stupidity and assholery to go viral.  There have always been lots of stupid people, lots of assholes, and worst of all lots of stupid assholes, but before social media these people could be localized.  Because of social media they can go viral and spread idiocy and hate.  

Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, whatever group of religious extremists in southwest Asia we are told hates the freedumbs this week etc will not destroy us.  Russia can't even defeat Ukraine and Putin does not want to use nukes.  China has no blue water fleet or long range bombers so while Taiwan, Korea, and Japan are all fucked if things ever go to war in the Pacific they can't project power on us, neither can Iran or North Korea.  No, what will destroy us is this virus of nihilistic selfish hateful stupidity that social media helps spread.  The division and fault lines in our society run deep and if things don't change we could balkanize and worst of all we'll do that to ourselves independent of any foreign entity.

 

So yeah, I view social media in general as a threat.  On the other hand, as you have said, good fucking luck getting this one through the courts and good luck enforcing such a ban. Actually, I would be equally alarmed at the courts upholding this ban because of first amendment concerns.

[micknaboz]

 

Montana can ban TikTok, but it probably can’t enforce it

Tech experts said the first-in-the-nation law is ‘technically incompetent’ and would require more data-gathering by companies, not less.

 

"Montana’s new ban on the short-video app TikTok seeks to erase one of the world’s most popular social media platforms from a state with more than a million people, many of whom use the app daily.

But there are a few problems with that effort, say experts who’ve reviewed the law: It’s constitutionally problematic, logistically impractical and largely impossible to enforce.

 

For it to work, some noted, the law, designed ostensibly to protect user information, would require tech companies such as TikTok to gather even more data on their users, not less.

“Technically incompetent,” said Tarah Wheeler, the chief of the cybersecurity company Red Queen Dynamics and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. “The Montana legislature is giving an order they should know can’t and won’t be followed.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/19/montana-tik-tok-ban-challenges/