TikTok and content creators challenging Montana's ban face off with the state in federal court

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TikTok and Montana faced off in federal court in a case filed by the video sharing app and five content creators who want the court to temporarily block the state's ban on the platform before it takes effect on Jan. 1

MISSOULA, Mont. — TikTok and Montana faced off in federal court on Thursday in a case filed by the video sharing app and five Montana content creators who want the court to temporarily block the state’s ban on the platform before it takes effect Jan. 1.

Attorneys for TikTok and the content creators argued that the state has gone “completely overboard” in trying to regulate TikTok and is essentially trying to implement its own foreign policy over unproven concerns that TikTok might share user data with the Chinese government.

Christian Corrigan, the state’s solicitor general, said Montana’s law was less a statement of foreign policy and rather addresses “serious, widespread concerns about data privacy.”

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy said he would rule on the motion for a preliminary injunction as quickly as possible.

In May, Montana became the first state in the U.S. to pass a complete ban on the app, based on the argument that the Chinese government could gain access to user information from TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing.

TikTok has said in court filings that the state passed its law based on “unsubstantiated allegations,” and that the state could have limited the kinds of data TikTok could collect rather than enacting a complete ban. Meanwhile, the content creators say the ban violates free speech rights and could cause economic harm for their businesses.

Ambika Kumar, an attorney representing the plaintiffs in the Montana lawsuit, argued Thursday that the ban shutters