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Montana's TikTok Ban Goes Before the Ninth

Circuit



Updated December 6, 2024

On November  30, 2023, a federal district court issued a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of a
law banning TikTok's Montana operations. Without the district court's preliminary injunction, the
Montana law would have become effective January 1, 2024. Montana appealed the district court's order
to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit). As referenced in a previous Legal
Sidebar, a number of states enacted some type of restriction of TikTok platform usage, but Montana's law
(SB 419) represents the first attempted ban ofthis breadth among U.S. states per news reporting. Several
months after the district court preliminarily enjoined SB 419, Congress passed the Protecting Americans
from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (P.L. 118-50) (PAFACAA), the provisions of which
are discussed in another Legal Sidebar, as are TikTok's legal actions challenging that law in the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit). The Ninth Circuit ordered a stay of the appellate
proceedings regarding Montana's law until 30 days following the outcome of the PAFACAA litigation.
Oral argument in the PAFACAA litigation occurred on September 16, 2024. On December 6, 2024, a D.C.
Circuit panel rejected all of TikTok's constitutional objections to the PAFACAA and denied TikTok's
petitions. This ruling may lead TikTok to petition for certiorari before the U.S. Supreme Court or seek
reconsideration by the circuit panel or the D.C. Circuit sitting en banc. Absent further action by either
court, the D.C. Circuit's judgment paves the way for the Ninth Circuit to conclude its adjudication of the
Montana law giving rise to some similar questions, but with different implications for state powers and
federalism. This Sidebar (1) briefly describes the preliminary injunction of SB 419, (2) discusses selected
legal issues before the Ninth Circuit, and (3) highlights some topics that these legal challenges might raise
for Congress.


District Court's Preliminary Injunction of SB 419

Montana's TikTok legislation prompted substantial public commentary. According to the law's preamble,
SB 419 supports the health and safety of Montanans by preventing TikTok's operation in the state and
also expresses concerns about TikTok's parent company being subject to control by the People's Republic
of China (PRC), gathering of user information, and dangerous content. (The broader policy issues
related to the legislation are beyond the scope of this Sidebar.)


                                                                 Congressional Research Service
                                                                   https://crsreports.congress.gov
                                                                                      LSB11166

CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress

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