Tag: ban
Google’s use of student data could effectively ban Chromebooks from Denmark schools
Danish privacy regulator Datatilsysnet has ruled that cities in Denmark need considerably more assurances about privacy to use Google service that may expose children’s data, reports BleepingComputer. The agency found (translated) that Google uses student data from Chromebooks and Google Workplace for Education “for its own purposes,” which isn’t allowed under European privacy law.
Municipalities will need to explain by March 1st how they plan to comply with the order to stop transferring data to Google, and won’t be able to do so at all starting August 1st, which could mean phasing out Chromebooks entirely.
The regulator ruled that municipalities aren’t allowed to send Google data unless the laws change or Google provides a way to…
G7: UK to ban Russian diamonds in Ukraine war sanctions
Montana TikTok users file lawsuit challenging ban
A group of TikTok creators have sued to block a recently signed law that bans the app’s operation in Montana. The suit, filed last night and announced today, alleges that Montana’s SB 419 is an unconstitutional and overly broad infringement of their right to speech.
“Montana has no authority to enact laws advancing what it believes should be the United States’ foreign policy or its national security interests, nor may Montana ban an entire forum for communication based on its perceptions that some speech shared through that forum, though protected by the First Amendment, is dangerous,” says the suit, filed by law firm Davis Wright Tremaine. “Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the W…
Montana TikTok creators shrug off state’s ban on app
TikTok creators sue Montana over statewide ban of the app
One day after Montana Governor signed the first statewide ban on TikTok into law, the measure is already facing a legal challenge. Five TikTok creators are suing in an effort to block the ban from taking effect.
In court filings, lawyers representing the TikTok creators say the ban is unconstitutional and that it violates their First Amendment rights. They also take issue with Montana’s supposed national security justification for the ban.
“Montana has no authority to enact laws advancing what it believes should be the United States’ foreign policy or its national security interests, nor may Montana ban an entire forum for communication based on its perceptions that some speech shared through that forum, though protected by the First Amendment, is dangerous,” the suit states. “Montana can no more ban its residents from viewing or posting to TikTok than it could ban the Wall Street Journal because of who owns it or the ideas it publishes.”
In an interview on Fox News, Montana’s Attorney General, Austin Knudsen, said that legal challenges to the ban were expected. “There are some important issues here that I do think we probably need the federal courts to step in and answer for us here,” he said. “And that was part of our calculus in bringing this.”
The lawsuit is among the first legal challenges to the law, and will likely be closely watched as federal officials consider a nationwide ban on the app. Right now, the Montana ban is set to take effect January 1, 2024, though lawsuits challenging it could delay that timeline. TikTok itself hasn’t commented on whether it’s planning to bring its own litigation in Montana, but said in a statement following the bill’s signing that it planned “to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana.”
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tiktok-creators-sue-montana-over-statewide-ban-of-the-app-225725851.html?src=rss
Montana governor signs TikTok ban into law
TikTok faces outright ban in first U.S. state
Montana Becomes First US State To Ban TikTok
Montana, which has a population of just over 1 million people, said TikTok could face fines for each violation and additional fines of $10,000 per day if they violate the ban. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2024. The ban will likely face numerous legal challenges that it violates the First Amendment free speech rights of users. An attempt by then President Donald Trump to ban new downloads of TikTok and WeChat through a Commerce Department order in 2020 was blocked by multiple courts and never took effect. The legislation that Gianforte signed also generally prohibits “the use of all social media applications that collect and provide personal information or data to foreign adversaries on government-issued devices,” adds Reuters.
It’s unclear if the bill signed today would effectively ban all social media in Montana, since most social media networks collect such information and share it with entities in foreign countries.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Montana legislature passes TikTok ban (Update: Ban is now law)
UPDATE: May. 17, 2023, 2:56 p.m. PDT On Wednesday, Governor Greg Gianforte signed this bill, which is slated to go into effect on January 1, 2024. Lawyers from organizations like the ACLU of Montana have already announced their opposition, so lawsuits attempting to stop the bill from ever being enforced are widely expected to proceed. This piece was originally published April 14, 2023 when the ban had been passed by the state legislature, but not yet signed.
The Montana House of Representatives just passed a ban on TikTok, meaning the app will become illegal if Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signs the bill, which had already passed in the Montana State Senate. Past actions by Gianforte, such as his memo prohibiting use of the app on state equipment, suggest that the bill will in fact become state law.
This is not yet another ban preventing government workers from using TikTok. The bill has at least some teeth, to say the least. It at least forbids (though it appears not to penalize) the use of TikTok by individuals statewide, prohibits app stores from selling TikTok in Montana, and lays out penalties for app sellers.
This is far and away the most far-reaching and complete ban that has been passed anywhere in the U.S. since President Trump’s unsuccessful ban back in 2020.
The bill would keep TikTok out of Montana mainly by fining app stores $10,000 per violation per day if the app is ever downloaded in Montana. The bill forbids “the operation of tiktok by the company or users,” but also notes that its penalties, “do not apply to users of tiktok.” So to be clear, the $10,000 fines only go to app stores, not TikTok users.
In either case, under this new law, it would have been legally impermissible for the person who captured the following footage of a mountain goat in Glacier National Park to download TikTok and post it for all to see:
In a statement provided to CNN, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter claimed that those who have pushed this Montana bill “have no feasible plan for operationalizing this attempt to censor American voices,” and added that “the bill’s constitutionality will be decided by the courts.”
The ACLU of Montana already signaled its opposition to the bill in the day’s before its passage, so TikTok may well be right that this will be decided in the courts.
As for TikTok’s claim that Montana doesn’t have a “feasible plan” for putting the bill into effect? That’s plausible as well, given that it’s not clear exactly how the law enforcement authorities of this sparsely populated state with just over 1 million inhabitants will go about finding perpetrators of this entirely new state cybercrime.