What is known about the blocking of one of the most popular platforms in the state in the US?
TikTok has amassed a huge user base since its debut and is currently one of the most popular platforms that features short videos. The format became such a phenomenon that it was not long before it found its way to other platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube in the form of Shorts, which are constantly being expanded by developers (Shorts on YouTube will gain a useful new feature. Many people will be happy).
Since its debut as Musical.ly, the app has gathered both its supporters and people who simply didn’t like the new format – many felt that the content that appears there is simply worthless and the only thing the platform is capable of is wasting the time of its users. Although the content has changed somewhat since the app’s appearance and valuable videos can be found on it, TikTok has maintained its reputation among its critics.
TikTok banned
Although TikTok was not ultimately liked by everyone, most likely no one expected that such a popular app would be completely blocked in one of the most important markets – the United States. Although the ban only applied to one state, it further came as quite a surprise to users.
The state in question is Montana, which currently has a population of more than 1,100,000. The app has more than a billion monthly active users, and certainly, a sizable portion of the residents of the said state belonged to them.
Those opposed to the blockage consider the measure an exaggeration by the government and claim that Montana residents can easily circumvent the ban by using a VPN, a service that both protects users’ privacy and allows them to access blocked content by sending data through intermediary servers. Defenders of Internet freedom and others have criticized the U.S. suppression as amounting to censorship.
Keegan Medrano – political director of the ACLU of Montana – said the lawmakers are affecting the free speech of hundreds of thousands of state residents who use the app to express themselves, get information, and run small businesses, and used data collection by Chinese authorities as justification.
Perhaps the government, under pressure from the community, will give in and lift the blockade, but at the moment there is no indication of this. Users who want to continue using the app will therefore have to use VPNs, which is sure to discourage a good portion of them.