Montana TikTok Ban Halted as Judge Says It Violates First Amendment

News Snapshot:

TikTok users in Big Sky Country are free — for now — to keep watching short-form videos on the app in the new year. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction Thursday blocking Montana’s first-of-its-kind U.S. ban of TikTok in the state, ruling that the law set to take effect Jan. 1, 2024, likely was unconstitutional. The bill was signed into law in May 2023 by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who said it would “protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.” TikTok — owned by Chinese internet giant ByteDance — has...