SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – Attorney General Sean D. Reyes joined an amicus brief, led by the State of Virginia, in Alario v. TikTok. The case, which is pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, involves a challenge to the State of Montana’s recently enacted law, SB 419, which prohibits TikTok from being downloaded within its borders. The Montana law provides that the prohibition will cease to apply if TikTok is sold to a company that is not incorporated in a country designated as a foreign adversary by the U.S. State Department.
After SB 419 was passed by the Montana Legislature with bipartisan support and signed into law earlier this spring, TikTok and a group of TikTok users successfully convinced a federal judge to block the policy from taking effect. The coalition of States on the brief are asking the appeals court to reverse the decision to block the Montana law.
“The longstanding battle to resist federal overreach has become even more critical in recent years as states enact reasonable laws to protect their citizens from myriad dangers including new and evolving technological threats,” said General Reyes.
“Montana officials, like many current American leaders, saw the harms TikTok caused their children and acted accordingly. It is our duty as state attorneys general to protect the most vulnerable among us. For this reason, I join my colleagues in urging the Ninth Circuit to reverse the district court and allow this law to go into effect.”
In their brief, the States argue that “SB 419 fits comfortably within the States’ historic police powers” and that “the balance of the equities weighs in favor of Montana.” The attorneys general write, “Make no mistake: TikTok harms American citizens everywhere – including in Montana. In particular, children have lost their lives to TikTok’s promotion of harmful content on its platform. TikTok’s continued resistance to reasonable regulation will almost certainly harm more children.”
Joining Utah and Virginia on this brief were the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.
