TikTok is funding the lawsuit filed by TikTok users to combat Montana’s state-wide ban of the app, a New York Times report confirmed yesterday.
And not for the first time. Back in 2020, TikTok secretly supported TikTok users who sued over the federal TikTok ban introduced by President Donald Trump. A Wall Street Journal report noted that the 2020 lawsuit was a key part of TikTok’s efforts to overturn Trump’s ban.
Once again, TikTok sees its users as useful for challenging a ban. Legal experts told the Times that the new lawsuit takes the focus off TikTok’s ties to China. Montana TikTokers have a personal First Amendment interest in the case, making it more about how a TikTok ban would harm Americans. Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, told the Times that he wouldn’t be surprised if the courts struck down Montana’s ban.