a tiktok ban enacted by montana the first state to impose such a law marked a major step in the growing us backlash against the chineseowned social media platform over concerns about data privacy montana gov greg gianforte said he signed the measure on wednesday to protect montanans personal and private data from the chinese communist party tiktok serves hundreds of thousands of users in montana and more than 5000 businesses tiktok spokesperson brooke oberwetter told abc news in a statement oberwetter denounced the ban and reminded users in montana that they remain allowed to use the app governor gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the first amendment rights of the people of montana by unlawfully banning tiktok she said we want to reassure montanans that they can continue using tiktok to express themselves earn a living and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of montana more uncharted territory how would a tiktok ban in the us work heres what to know about the tiktok ban in montana according to experts how can montana ban tiktok the montana ban which takes effect in january 2024 does not prevent current users from accessing the app or penalize them for doing so instead the ban targets the availability of the app by threatening entities such as tiktok google and apple with a 10000 fine for each day that the platform remains accessible in app stores for users in montana this is not doing anything with respect to existing users sarah kreps director of cornell universitys tech policy institute told abc news noting however that the law will hinder current users eventually as they fail to download new updates to the app users need updates to have tiktok run smoothly and efficiently kreps said over time it will have a siphoning off effect on these existing users more tiktok faces bans in us and other countries heres why the law will be nullified if tiktok is no longer headquartered in any country designated as a foreign adversary by the us government how will montana enforce the tiktok ban state officials will be able to enforce the law by observing whether app stores display tiktok for users in montana and the relevant companies should be largely capable of identifying where users reside and denying access accordingly experts said however users in montana will likely be able to elude the restrictions by using technology that falsifies their location and allows them to download the app they added theres this myth that because there are technical workarounds with the internet the law doesnt matter timothy edgar a computer science professor at brown university and a former national security official told abc news thats not true montana governor greg gianforte speaks at the ceremony to honor the four airman killed in a 1962 b47 crash at 8500 feet on emigrant peak on july 24 2021 in emigrant mont william campbellgetty images still users