On Friday, the US state of Montana passed a law banning TikTok , which may strengthen the will of the United States to completely block the popular platform of the Chinese “ByteDance” group, although the possibilities of its implementation in its current text seem unlikely.

SB419 passed by a vote of 54-43, but it still has to be approved by the Republican governor of this northwest state, which has a population of just over 1 million.

Like many members of Congress from both the Democratic and Republican parties, Montana representatives believe that the platform used by 150 million Americans to watch short and entertaining videos allows Beijing to spy on and manipulate users.

The text requires mobile app stores (for devices running Apple's and Google's operating systems) to stop making TikTok available as of January 1, 2024.

With this, Montana became the first US state to pass a law banning TikTok. However, it is certain that the text will face a judicial challenge, and therefore it is unlikely that it will be applied in its current form.

"The constitutionality of this provision will be decided in the courts. We will continue to fight for TikTok users and content creators in Montana," a spokeswoman for the app said before the vote.

On Thursday, Republican Representative Brandon Lear accused China of wanting to hack “our data and intellectual property,” saying that “the time has come to confront the Chinese and ban TikTok” because of the danger this application poses to “health and safety, especially among the younger ones.”

"TikTok allows and encourages dangerous challenges, like throwing things at moving vehicles or overusing drugs," Lear added.

Democratic lawmakers opposed to the new law said during its debate on Thursday that many of the criticisms directed at TikTok regarding data privacy, spreading misinformation, or harmful health effects (such as addiction and depression), also apply to all social networks.

Zoe Zephyr, a Democratic representative from Montana, said, "There is a big gap between the serious challenges associated with this issue (...) and the lack of experience in this House."

She noted that Montana residents will still be able to download the application simply by approaching the border with neighboring states or by using virtual private networks (VPNs) that allow access to Internet services from servers registered in other locations.

"Banning TikTok is unconstitutional in terms of freedom of expression, unenforceable because it excludes ISPs and VPNs, and is driven by provisions of the law," ACLU's local branch official, the influential civil rights advocacy organization Keegan Medrano, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. anti-Chinese prejudices.

The text mentions the fines imposed on the violating companies, but not on the users. Apple and Google did not immediately respond to AFP's questions.

And the law will be nullified if TikTok is acquired from a country that is not considered an enemy of the United States.

The White House finally encouraged TikTok to search for this type of solution by seeking to conclude an acquisition deal for an American company, if it wanted to stay in the United States.

Trade and political tensions with China have fueled, for months, growing wariness of US officials and public opinion towards the Chinese government.

Flying a supposed Chinese spy balloon in February, especially over Montana, didn't help.

"I don't know if this law would have been passed had it not happened," said Andrew Celebak, a professor specializing in media at the University of Florida.

The Joe Biden administration is discussing several bills with Congress to ban the application, including a law called the "Restrict Act" ("Restriction Act").

But this latest provision, unlike the law adopted in Montana, goes much further than banning TikTok, according to Andrew Celebak, as it "gives more powers to the government to monitor the activities of Americans on social networks."

"I think that law proposals that focus solely on TikTok are more likely to succeed," Celebak explains.

TikTok has for years denied accusations of spying on its users for China.

Company president Xu Qiu, who testified before Congress in March, highlighted the means used by TikTok to store all US user data exclusively within the United States.

"We don't believe you," Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of a powerful parliamentary committee, told him. "ByteDance owes allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, and ByteDance and TikTok are two sides of the same coin," she said.