Hallelujah: Montana has officially banned TikTok, will the other 49 states follow suit?

I read this earlier but how the heck do they plan to enforce it? The law is meaningless unless it can be enforced. Montana can't block it from ISPs and even if somehow they managed to all you need is a VPN that geolocates you somewhere else.

This is sabre rattling which is a waste of political time.

Lot of pi$$ed off zoomers about to lose it!

Virtue signaling. All those same videos are cross posted on YouTube, IG and lots of other apps.

first amendant in shambles, only AMERICANS should spy on our citizens and sell our data

The first thing Lenin did when he swept to power was ban all the newspapers.

Uh...no... it's not going to happen.

This guy is really on the ball.

"
Gianforte believes in Young Earth creationism.[49][50] He has donated at least $290,000 to the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, a Montana creationist museum that teaches visitors that the theory of evolution is false, that the Earth is about 6,000–6,400 years old, and that humans and dinosaurs coexisted during the same period.[51] The museum claims dinosaurs were aboard Noah's Ark, and that they likely went extinct 4,300 years ago during the great flood described in the Book of Genesis.[52][53][54][52] The Gianforte Family Foundation also donated a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton replica to the museum."

1. They banned it for the right reason.

2. Unfortunately, the other 49 states will not follow. Maybe 5-10 smaller states will.

That's nice. Tiktok isn't a newspaper.

They want to keep all that data for themselves.

About as enforceable as a ban on lawn pesticide where I live. Self-righteous politicians have got to go.

Reading comprehension is a thing.

Watching a TikTok video on YouTube does not share your data with TikTok.

This is really a slippery slope and I have mixed feelings about it.

I don't necessarily believe that TikTok is a good thing and while most of the videos are innocuous, it's not those videos that can potentially be dangerous. It is the back doors that allow China to gather intelligence by accessing confidential information on phones, including microphone, camera, email, location, etc. I have told both of my children that putting the app on their phone is probably not a good thing. I know that they look at videos but have no idea if the app is on their phones. I am not a helicopter parent so I really have no idea if they followed my advice or not and I really can't enforce my recommendation. I know parents that will tell their kids that as long as they are paying the phone bill that they have to have full access to their phones and they have to share their location at all times. I refuse to go there with my kids.

While it is not documented that China actually uses TikTok to gather intelligence and spy, they are not to be trusted. Also, China should be hurt economically whenever possible. I always look at products and try not to buy Chinese made products, but it really is impossible not to buy anything made in China. Not using TikTok is one thing that can be done.

The opposing view of all of this, and the Reagan Republicans, will be opposed to this. The slippery slope becomes protection of the Constitution. Where do you draw the line? Will it soon lead to what we can see and watch, how we raise and educate our children, how we dress and what we do with our own bodies? Some of that is rhetorical because it is already happening. Reagan is probably rolling in his grave at some of what is being done and/or proposed.This really should be a bipartisan thing and not become political. Biden has already banned TikTok from government devices. Ultimately, this is probably not something that is going to be hashed out at the state level. And additionally, there really is no way for Montana to enforce this or they become like the helicopter parent and that is a bad thing.

First, they came for TikTok but I didn’t speak up because I didn’t use TikTok…

This is sort of a blanket statement. It has to be a case-by-case basis. You can say that drinking too much sugary pop is destroying the health of kids. Should that mean that it is banned? The problem is that some people don't learn moderation. I personally don't use social media. I have never posted anything on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram but I can see how those platforms can be useful. I also see how they can be harmful. Again, moderation is the key.

Tiktok is fap material for boomers

I am in total agreement with you in reasoning and result. Social media destroys attention spans and human interaction and has markedly worsened the mental health, work ethic, and education of teenagers and 20-somethings. The Chinese government connection is a red herring. The fact is that the Chinese government and parastatal entities have long ago hacked into every major business, social network, and gaming sites, as well as government and universities, and continue to do so millions of times every day, so Tik-Tok is just one (major) Trojan Horse, one of many, many such entities. So, don't believe the hype.

Republicans are using TikTok as a trial balloon. If this ban proves to be popular and doesn't create very much blowback, then it emboldens them to ban or heavily censor other platforms. We're starting to get into Orwellian territory.

Democrats should also be watched carefully. Whereas the GOP is looking to restrict freedom of expression in a brutish fashion, the left is all too eager to silence opposition opinions via de-platforming and selective censorship.

The elites want to control speech, monetize your thoughts, and ultimately dictate a narrative for the masses.

Well....yes it is. TikTok is basically a newspaper on steroids. Advertising, real estate, journalism, humor, sports, entertainment, classifieds, etc., etc.....all in one location. That's a newspaper.

So yes, TikTok is a newspaper. It just happens to be a massive global and virtual newspaper where the content is in video and not print.

If one is afraid of information, you don't ban that information. Just come out with better information. Banning is for cowards who don't have better points to bring up.