The TikTok Montana Ban was met with a significant uproar from content creators, influencers, and users who are residents of the state, including lawsuits that the social media platform reportedly funded. The new reports claim that TikTok supported its creators by providing legal fee assistance to help push the lawsuit forward and battle the Montana ban.
It was the first full ban on TikTok's operations in a state who denounces the alleged data access of the Chinese social media app, with definite legislation against it.
TikTok Funds User Lawsuits to Go Against Montana Ban
The New York Times reported that TikTok is funding user lawsuits in their legal fight against Montana, with these creators claiming that the state government went against their First Amendment rights. These creators received funding for their legal fees, centering on the case they pushed against reversing the TikTok ban in the state.
At first, it may seem like these creators are fighting for their rights out of their pockets, especially as this was where they express themselves or make a living.
However, the new report claimed that TikTok admitted that they have extended help to them by funding their legal fees, and nothing further than that.
As per TikTok, they support their creators in their fight for their "constitutional rights," with the social media being their legal right to freely express themselves.
TikTok Choosing Not to Disclose It is Legal
As noted by the New York Times, this move from TikTok is legal, as it does not need to disclose if it is funding lawsuits to go against the legislation and ban against them.
According to Ars Technica, this succeeded TikTok's effort when it first saw a nationwide ban in 2020 under former President Trump's legislation. Back then, they partnered with influencers and connected them to top First Amendment lawyers, separate from TikTok's lawsuit.
TikTok and the Looming US Ban
Since early 2020, there were news about a nationwide TikTok ban in the US under the Trump administration, and this centered on its Chinese ties, being under ByteDance. In a last-minute deal with Oracle, TikTok was saved from facing bans from the government, but this meant that it surrenders all operations in countries including the US, Canada, UK, and Oceania regions.
However, this was still a fragile situation as there were still claims and studies that TikTok is accessing a massive part of user data in the US and allegedly, its Chinese operations have access to it. This led to the legislation from the US Congress to ban it on government devices, also, leading to an investigation where there were considerations for its total ban in the US.
Montana was the first to pass a legitimate total ban against TikTok on all devices within its region, to all the constituents under it. TikTok tried to fight it, and they were accompanied by creators and users who protest against the Montana ban.
However, this was not entirely from the pockets of those users who took legal action against Montana's legislation, receiving help for their legal fees, courtesy of TikTok.
