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S Congressional ______
R aesearch S rvice
Montana's TikTok Ban, an Injunction, and
Pending Legal Actions
Updated December 8, 2023
On November 30, 2023, a U.S. district judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing Montana from
enforcing a ban on TikTok's operations in the state. According to media reporting, while a number of
states have some type of proscription of TikTok platform usage, Montana's law (SB 419) represents the
first attempted ban of this breadth among U.S. states. This Sidebar (1) briefly describes SB 419,
(2) discusses legal challenges to the law, (3) explains the primary bases for the preliminary injunction, and
(4) highlights some topics that these legal challenges might raise for Congress.
SB 419 Attempts to Restrict TikTok's Montana
Operations
Public information about the reasons for Montana's TikTok legislation abounds. SB 419's preamble states
that the law promotes the health and safety of Montanans and lists concerns including the People's
Republic of China's (PRC's) status as an adversary, as well as TikTok's status as a subsidiary of . .. a
Chinese corporation over which the [PRC] exercises control and oversight, improper procurement and
sharing of user data, and promotion of dangerous content. (Analysis of these claims, as well as the
broader policy issues prompted by the legislation, is beyond the scope of this Sidebar.)
SB 419 would ban TikTok in Montana by (1) prohibiting mobile application (app) stores from making
the TikTok app available to users in Montana; (2) prohibiting TikTok's operation in all places subject to
Montana's criminal jurisdiction; and (3) including penalties and enforcement provisions. Absent the
preliminary injunction, SB 419 would become effective January 1, 2024, assuming no trigger of a novel
clause that could void the law if TikTok was acquired by or sold to a company that is not incorporated in
any other country designated as a foreign adversary in 15 C.F.R. @ 7.4 at the time TikTok is sold or
acquired. The referenced Code of Federal Regulations provision implements Executive Order 13,873,
Securing the Information and Communications Technology and Services Supply Chain, discussed in this
CRS In Focus.
To date, no other states have enacted a ban this broad against TikTok or any other social media platform.
Instead, more than half of U.S. states prohibit the use of TikTok on at least some state-issued devices. A
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10972
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govenqs0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)