A pair of influential tech lobbying groups have come out in support of TikTok’s lawsuit against the US state of Montana and its ban on usage of the app.

NetChoice, an association with members including Google, PayPal and Amazon, along with the Chamber of Progress have published a joint court filing which states: “Montana’s effort to cut Montanans off from the global network of TikTok users ignores and undermines the structure, design, and purpose of the internet.”

It continues: "if allowed to take effect, the ban will usher in a balkanized internet where information available to users becomes regionally divided based on local politicians’ whims or preferences. “The internet, as a whole, will become fragmented and its value to humanity diminished."

Montana, which is deeply Republican controlled, became the first state to ban TikTok at a legislative level in May. The legislation was signed by governor Greg Gianforte, and will prohibit downloads of the app in the state from 1 January 2024. Any 'entity' that provides users with the ability to access the app – including an app store and TikTok itself – would be subject to a $10,000 per day fine.

The tech world has come out in force against the ban, with TikTok immediately filing a suit seeking to block it based on grounds that it violates the First Amendment free speech rights of the company and users. The company’s request for a preliminary injunction is set to be heard on 12 October.

TikTok estimates that 380,000 people in the state use the app, more than a third of its 1.1 million population.

The Republican party has targeted TikTok as part of a years-long campaign against China. Former president Donald Trump attempted – and failed – to force ByteDance to divest its US business in 2020. TikTok has consistently maintained that it "has not shared, and would not share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government, and has taken substantial measures to protect the privacy and security of TikTok users."

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