The US state of Montana is taking a major step to ban the Chinese social media platform TikTok after lawmakers passed a law to do so. Only the signature of the governor who favors the ban is needed to take effect.

By a vote of 54 to 43, Montana state lawmakers voted to ban TikTok, which is expected to go into effect early next year, news.ro writes.

Specifically, the new law bans TikTok from operating in the state, and app stores are no longer allowed to offer access to it for download to Montanans.

However, the law does not prohibit those who already have TikTok from using it, the BBC notes.

Like previous federal measures, the Montana law says Americans’ personal data is at risk of interception by China’s communist government because of the close ties between TikTok and ByteDance.

TikTok, of course, has always denied these allegations and recently announced a project worth more than a billion dollars, with which it promises to better protect the personal data of American citizens.

Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel of industry group NetChoice, which includes TikTok, said the bill “sets a dangerous precedent where the government can try to ban any business it doesn’t like without clear evidence” that it committed a crime “, CBS reports, citing the BBC.

To officially take effect, the new law must be signed by the state’s governor, Republican Greg Gianforte. This would only be a formality, as Gianforte has banned TikTok from the phones of government employees since December.

Montana could become the first U.S. state to ban TikTok, and other states will follow suit before such a decision is made at the federal level.

(photo source Dreamstime)