2023-05-19 19:28:56
United States |
The state of Montana will be the first to prohibit its inhabitants from using the social network in the United States. Experts doubt that the measure is possible to carry out and a federal court received a class action lawsuit.
The absolute ban on TikTokreleased on Wednesday (05.17.2023) in the state of Montana, United States, is heading towards a court battle, while some experts doubt whether it is technically feasible.
After being signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte, Montana next year will become the first state in the country to prevent the use of the popular Digital platformowned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
Should a “Great Wall of Montana” be built?
Tarah Wheeler, head of the cybersecurity firm Red Queen Dynamics and senior fellow for Global Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, does not see a ban as possible: “You would have to build the Great Wall of Montana,” he said, referring to the historic Great Wall of China.
“Maintaining a ban in the state, and keeping yourself free of the kind of surveillance you’re trying to escape, is not possible,” he added.
Use of virtual private networks
It is likely that the users of TikTok take advantage of some free software to get a virtual private network (VPN), by means of which people change the location of devices.
According to Wheeler, technically savvy teens in Montana might use a VPN to be seen logging in from other states, which also presents vulnerabilities to spyware or malware lurking on some networks.
Lack of evidence
Jason Kelley, Acting Director of the Internet Rights Group Electronic Frontier Foundationbelieves that while the ban was passed under the rationale of protecting Montana users from alleged Chinese meddling, no clear evidence has been produced to that effect.
In his opinion, it is the lack of a national data privacy law that leaves users vulnerable, with brokers free to collect and sell information from web users: “If China wants data on users, it might just go to buy them.”
A court battle
As the debate on app impact and security rages, five Content creators on TikTok The state has already filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that the ban is illegal and violates free speech rights.
Lyrissa Lidsky, a professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, said the ban will easily be seen as a violation of fundamental free speech laws in the United States, where companies have the same rights of expression as individuals. .
Test model for the USA
The move will serve as a legal test for a nationwide ban on the platform, something lawmakers in Washington are increasingly calling for. A wide swath of politicians accuse the app of being sponsored by the Chinese government and of being a Beijing spy toolsomething TikTok furiously denies.
The ban would take effect in 2024, but it would be lifted if TikTok is acquired by a company incorporated in a country not considered by the United States to be a foreign threat, the law says.
The law has been interpreted as an invitation by Montana legislators to TikTok and the White House reached some kind of agreement that would make the application detach itself from ByteDanceor stop operating permanently in the North American country.
JU (afp, dpa, Archyde.com)
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