Montana governor Greg Gianforte bans TikTok. But is enforcing the law possible?

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed into law a first-of-its kind bill that makes it illegal for TikTok to operate in state, setting up a potential legal fight with company amid a litany of questions over wher state can even enforce law.

new rules in Montana will have more far-reaching effects than TikTok bans alrey in place on government-issued devices in nearly half states and U.S. federal government. re are 200,000 TikTok users in Montana as well as 6,000 businesses that use video-sharing platform, according to company spokesperson Jamal Brown.

Here’s what you need to kw:

WHY IS MONTANA BANNING TIKTOK?

Proponents of law in Montana claim Chinese government could harvest U.S. user data from TikTok and use platform to push pro-Beijing misinformation or messs to public.

That mirrors arguments me by a bipartisan group of lawmakers in U.S. Senate, as well as hes of FBI and CIA, all of whom have said TikTok could pose a national security threat because its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance operates under Chinese law.

Critics have pointed to China’s 2017 national intelligence law that compels companies to cooperate with country’s governments for state intelligence work. Ar Chinese law, implemented in 2014, has similar mandates.

TikTok says it has never been asked to hand over its data, and it wouldn’t do so if asked.

HOW DOES MONTANA PLAN TO BAN TIKTOK?

law will prohibit downlos of TikTok in state and fine any “entity” — an app store or TikTok — $10,000 per day for each time someone accesses TikTok, “is offered ability” to access it, or downlos it.

That means Apple and Google, which operate app stores on Apple and Android devices, would be liable for any violations. Penalties would t apply to users.

statewide ban won't take effect until January 2024. It would be void if social media platform is sold to a company that is t based in "any country designated as a foreign versary” by federal government.

goverr indicated he wants to expand bill to or social media apps in order to dress some of bill’s “technical and legal concerns.” But legislature journed before sending him bill, which meant he couldn’t offer his amendments.

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen has pointed to techlogy used to restrict online sports gambling apps as a way to curtail TikTok from operating in state. Those violations can be reported by anyone. And once state verifies a breach has taken place, it sends a cease-and-desist letter to company involved, said Kyler Nerison, a spokesperson for Knudsen's office. He said different companies use different methods for compliance and it's up to m “to t allow ir apps to work in Montana and or states where y are t legal.”

SO, COULD TIKTOK BAN WORK?

Cybersecurity experts say that, or than avoiding fine, re's thing incentivizing companies involved to comply and it will be extremely difficult — if t impossible — to equately enforce law.

For one, U.S. doesn't have anything equivalent to of control countries like China have on what ir citizens access on web. Compounding that, internet service providers are out of picture.

Before Montana law passed, lawmakers rewrote portions of bill to let m off hook after a lobbyist for AT&T said during a February hearing legislation was “t workable” to put into effect.

COULD TECH COMPANIES BLOCK IT?

Apple and Google have t spoken out against law. But a representative for TechNet, tre group that counts two tech giants as its members, has said app stores don’t have ability to “geofence” apps in different states and it would be impossible to prevent TikTok from being downloed in Montana. group has also said responsibility should be on an app to determine where it can operate, t an app store.

Telecoms analyst Roger Entner, of Recon Analytics, says he believes app stores could have capability to enforce law, but it would be cumbersome to implement and full of loopholes. Apple and Google’s dress-linked billing could be bypassed with prepaid cards and IP geolocation easily masked by using a VPN service, which can alter IP dresses and allows users to eve content restrictions, said mobile security expert Will Strafach, founder of Guardian, which makes a privacy protection app for Apple devices.

Oded Vanunu, he of products vulnerability research at cybersecurity firm Check Point, agreed it would be difficult for app stores to isolate a single state from downloing an app. He suggested it would be more feasible for TikTok to comply since it controls software and can “just settings based on geographical location or IP dresses" of users.

COULD TIKTOK BLOCK ITSELF?

When users allow TikTok to collect ir location information, it can track a person to at least 3 square kilometers (1.16 square miles) from ir actual location. If that feature is disabled, TikTok can still collect approximate location information - such as region, city or zip code in which a user may be located - based on device or network information, like an IP dress.

But similar to app stores, cybersecurity experts te that any enforcement measures company implements could be easily bypassed with a VPN and efforts to use IP geolocating might le to or issues.

David Choffnes, executive director of Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute at rastern University, said cell providers may use same s of IP dresses for multiple states, which could mean someone who is t in Montana could incorrectly be blocked from using TikTok.

WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT?

Likely a legal battle.

Knudsen, Montana's attorney general, has alrey said he expects law will end up in court.

TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said in a prepared statement Wednesday that law infringes on Montanan's free speech rights and is unlawful.

“We want to reassure Montanans that y can continue using TikTok to express mselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend rights of our users inside and outside of Montana,” Oberwetter said.

Oberwetter declined to say if company will file a lawsuit but described some of legal issues at play. She argued Montana is attempting to override U.S. foreign policy by claiming bill dresses a national security risk. She said foreign policy and national security laws are t me at state level.

NetChoice, a tre group that represents TikTok and or tech companies, says bill would violate First Amendment and “bill of attainder” laws that prohibit government from imposing a punishment on a specific entity without a formal trial.