by It began when Republican states in the US began banning Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on government devices and eventually ballooned into a raft of countries making the same decision — including Australia and the rest of the Five Eyes alliance.
Now a Republican governor has announced the first statewide ban on the app, restricting its use completely.
Governor Greg Gianforte of Montana signed the move into law overnight, in what will very likely be the first of many similar moves.
“Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party,” Gianforte said in an announcement.
The total ban will come into effect on 1 January 2024.