TikTok CEO Chew: Montana’s Ban on the App ‘Unconstitutional’ 

In this photo provided by the Montana Governor's Office, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signs a law banning TikTok in the state, May 17, 2023, in Helena, Mont. (Montana Governor's Office via AP, File)
In this photo provided by the Montana Governor's Office, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signs a law banning TikTok in the state, May 17, 2023, in Helena, Mont. (Montana Governor's Office via AP, File)
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TikTok CEO Chew: Montana’s Ban on the App ‘Unconstitutional’ 

In this photo provided by the Montana Governor's Office, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signs a law banning TikTok in the state, May 17, 2023, in Helena, Mont. (Montana Governor's Office via AP, File)
In this photo provided by the Montana Governor's Office, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signs a law banning TikTok in the state, May 17, 2023, in Helena, Mont. (Montana Governor's Office via AP, File)

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said on Tuesday the US state of Montana's ban of the app was unconstitutional and that he was confident his company will prevail in a lawsuit challenging the decision.

The Chinese-owned company filed a lawsuit on Monday against Montana's decision to ban TikTok from operating in the state to protect residents from alleged intelligence gathering by China.

"We believe that the Montana bill that was recently passed is simply unconstitutional," Chew told the Qatar Economic Forum organized by Bloomberg.

US lawmakers and state government officials have called for a nationwide ban on the video-sharing app, which is used by more than 150 million Americans, over concerns about potential Chinese government influence over the platform.

"The Chinese government never asked us for US users' data and we will not provide even if asked," Chew said.

Chew said his company has worked with Oracle to keep US users data stored in the United States.

"Today by default, all US data is stored in the Oracle cloud service already," he said.

"We have built over the last two years something we call internally 'Project Texas', which ensures that American data is stored on American soil by an American company and overseen by American personnel," Chew added.

In March, a congressional committee grilled Chew about whether the Chinese government could access user data or influence what Americans see on the app.

But calls to ban TikTok nationwide or give the Biden administration new powers to crack down or ban TikTok have not advanced in Congress.

Montana could impose fines of $10,000 for each violation by TikTok and additional fines of $10,000 per day if it violates the ban. The law does not impose penalties on individual TikTok users. It is not clear how Montana would enforce a TikTok ban.



EU Says Trump Arrival Will Not Impact Big Tech Cases

The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
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EU Says Trump Arrival Will Not Impact Big Tech Cases

The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo
The logos of mobile apps, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Netflix, are displayed on a screen in this illustration picture taken December 3, 2019. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

The European Commission said on Tuesday it was assessing its cases against Apple, Google and Meta and that President-elect Donald Trump's impending arrival in the White House did not affect its commitment to enforcing its laws on big tech.

The European Commission has carried out a series of investigations into US tech firms under its Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, which seek to make large platforms adhere to market rules and act against illegal content, according to Reuters.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg said Europe was "institutionalizing censorship".

"We have been very clear that no matter which administration is in place in third countries, this will not affect our enforcement work," a Commission spokesperson told the EU's executive's daily briefing.

The Financial Times reported that the European Commission was reassessing its investigations of Apple, Meta and Google in a review that could lead it to scale back or change its investigations that could lead to fines as US groups urge Trump to intervene.

The Commission denied it was carrying out a review.

"What we do have is upcoming meetings to assess maturity of cases, to assess the allocation of resources and the general readiness of the investigation," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the cases were still being handled at a technical level and so not reached a point at which decisions could be taken.

"Obviously there may be a political reality which puts pressure on the technical work, but we need to distinguish the two stages because we need to have a court-proof investigation," another spokesperson said.