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TikTok has sued the U.S. state of Montana to prevent it from banning the popular social media platform.

The lawsuit ensued after Montana became the first state in the U.S. to enact a ban on TikTok last Thursday (May 18), BBC reported.

Conflicts with rights of free speech

The popular Chinese-owned application filed the lawsuit on Monday (May 22) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, calling for the withdrawal of the "unlawful" ban.

The ban would take effect in January 2024. Under the ban, it would be illegal for app stores to offer TikTok though people who already have TikTok on their devices would not be banned from using it.

Reuters reported that Montana could impose fines of US$10,000 (S$13, 448) for each violation by TikTok and additional fines of US$10,000 (S$13, 448) per day if it violated the ban. The law would not impose fines on individual TikTok users.

TikTok declared in a statement that the ban conflicted with the U.S. rights of free speech.

"We are challenging Montana's unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana," a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement, as quoted by BBC.

"We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts."

TikTok asserted that the ban is unconstitutional as it violated the U.S. First Amendment right to free speech. It also argued that the ban violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which limited the authority of the States to pass legislation that could negatively implicate interstate and foreign businesses, Reuters reported.

Intense scrutiny

TikTok had been subject to constant scrutiny from authorities around the world over data security concerns. One key issue was whether the data stored on the application could be passed to the Chinese government.

In December last year, Montana banned the popular social media app from all government devices.

TikTok said it had over 150 million American users. It especially enjoyed massive popularity among teenagers and young adults.

TikTok is owned by Chinese-based ByteDance, though they constantly denied it is controlled by the Chinese government.

TikTok maintained that Montana's banning of TikTok is based on an"unfounded speculation" that the Chinese government has access to TikTok data.

In its lawsuit, the company said it "has not shared, and would not share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government, and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok users".

Meanwhile, lawyers for Montana's government said it expected and was prepared for a lawsuit, saying that they "expected legal challenges and are fully prepared to defend the law that helps protect Montanans’ privacy and security".

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Top image via Solen Feyissa/Unsplash.