Governor Greg Gianforte signed legislation to completely ban the short-video platform owned by China’s ByteDance from operating in the state as of Jan. 1, 2024. “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 a statement. (The Logic)

Talking point: More than half of U.S. states and the federal government have already banned TikTok from government-owned devices, while Canada’s federal government did the same in February citing privacy and security concerns. Experts say Montana’s unprecedented statewide ban will face legal challenges and prove difficult to enforce. TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said the law infringes on the First Amendment right to free speech and is unlawful, but did not say whether the company will file a lawsuit. The new law would apply to parties like app stores making TikTok available and not to its users, meaning people in Montana may be able to circumvent the ban with a virtual private network.