As Red States Curb Social Media, Did Montana’s TikTok Ban Go Too Far?

Many of the world’s largest consumer technology companies will be closely monitoring a federal court hearing in Montana on Thursday that could decide whether TikTok will have to stop operating in the state next year.

The popular video-sharing app is suing Montana to halt a first-of-its-kind state law that would ban TikTok in the state on Jan. 1. The law was drafted by Montana’s Republican attorney general and signed by its governor in May. TikTok is asking the court to block the ban through a preliminary injunction.

Montana is at the forefront of a crusade by state Republican officials to rein in Big Tech. Republican governors, attorneys general, lawmakers and conservative policy groups say internet platforms like TikTok, Instagram and Snap are undermining conservative family values and preventing parents from protecting their children from harmful content and online predators.

Many also believe that such platforms censor conservative political views and that TikTok, whose parent company, ByteDance, is based in China, poses security risks to American users.

Republican state lawmakers have introduced several first-of-their-kind state bills that would regulate popular social media apps, like TikTok, and adult sites, like PornHub. Focusing on issues like giving parents control over their children’s online activities and stopping online content moderation, the states have significantly outpaced their Democratic counterparts in setting rules that tech companies have called aggressive and legally dubious.

Civil rights groups have warned that the new social media laws giving more control to parents could curb young people’s access to sexual health information, inhibit their ability to organize protests and cut them off from L.G.B.T.Q. communities.