MADRID, May 19th. (EUROPEAN PRESS) –

A group of TikTok content creators have sued the US state of Montana over a recent ban on the video app, amid concerns over the data protection it offers users.

These are five people living in the state who use TikTok as an integral part of their business or community, and who will be directly and negatively impacted by the ban.

According to the complaint, which CNN has accessed, the creators compared TikTok to other types of media, and stated that banning it was a crime against free expression: “Montana cannot ban its residents from viewing or posting on TikTok, no more than you can ban the ‘Wall Street Journal.’ because of who owns it or the ideas it posts.”

As well as accusing the governor of the state, Greg Gianforte, of violating his freedom of expression, they also claim that the ban violates other rights, contravening the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution, which stipulates, among other things, the obligation to establish fair trials. court before withdrawing liberty from a citizen.

For its part, the state attorney general’s office, Austin Knudsen, has stated in a statement that “we expect a legal battle and we stand ready to defend the law.”

Gianforte signed into law banning access to or downloads of the app on Wednesday, becoming the first state to take this action. He said he made this decision to protect the data of Americans in Montana “from the Chinese Communist Party.”

The controversial law, which comes as several lawmakers are calling for a nationwide ban on the app, marks another step in banning TikTok – whose parent company is China’s ByteDance – after growing security concerns in the West. applications as Trojan horses to promote pro-China propaganda or collect user data.

The Chinese authorities have lashed out that, after a series of vetoes in recent months by several countries – the US, the UK and the EU – on the apparatus of public administration, there is hidden political intent without any form. real technological justification.