Technologies
TikTok Is Suing Montana Over App Ban: What It Means For You
The company behind the popular video-sharing app says the state’s ban violates the First Amendment.

TikTok is striking back against Montana’s recently passed ban on the popular video app. On Monday, TikTok filed to legally challenge the ban in US district court.
«We are challenging Montana’s unconstitutional TikTok ban to protect our business and the hundreds of thousands of TikTok users in Montana,» a representative for TikTok said in a statement sent to CNET. «We believe our legal challenge will prevail based on an exceedingly strong set of precedents and facts.»
On May 17, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419, making his state the first in the nation to ban TikTok over concerns related to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
«The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented,» Gianforte said in a press release announcing the ban. «Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party.»
TikTok reports that it has more than 150 million monthly active users in the US. And a 2022 Pew study found that 67% of US teens aged 13 to 17 said they used the app, with 16% of all teens saying they use it almost «constantly.» So can Montana, the eighth-smallest US state by population, really ban its just over 1 million people from using the app? It’s complicated.
For more on data privacy, check out CNET’s list of the best VPN services and how to stop iPhone apps from tracking you.
What does TikTok say in its legal complaint?
TikTok’s statement lists multiple reasons why the company believes the ban is unlawful, beginning by citing the First Amendment, which forbids government restrictions on free speech.
The company says the Montana law is «unconstitutionally shutting down the forum for speech for all speakers on the app and singling these speakers out for disfavored treatment with the content-based rationale that videos on TikTok are harmful to minors.»
TikTok also says the claims that US user data is being used by the Chinese government involve foreign affairs and national security, and should be dealt with at the federal, not state level. It argues that the state-specific ban on its national platform risks disrupting the flow of travel and commerce between states, and also says it’s unconstitutional that TikTok is singled out for harsh penalties based on speculation about its data security and content moderation.
TikTok is seeking a declaratory judgment and order «invalidating and preliminarily and permanently enjoining Defendant from enforcing the TikTok Ban.»
A representative for the Montana governor didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Is banning TikTok really going to protect data privacy?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group, called the ban «unconstitutional» in a Twitter thread.
And an article from March published on the EFF site pointed out that nearly all social media platforms and online businesses collect a good deal of personal data from users, while noting that the surveillance and censorship practices of China make TikTok a special case.
«Still, the best solution to these problems is not to single out one business or country for a ban,» the EFF wrote. «Rather, we must enact comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation. By reducing the massive stores of personal data collected by all businesses, TikTok included, we will reduce opportunities for all governments, China included, to buy or steal this data.
Jason Kelley, the EFF’s acting director for activism, told CNET in a phone interview that the ban violates the First Amendment and won’t protect data privacy, but will put an «enormous burden» on Montana as it attempts to enforce the law. But he doesn’t think that’s the point.
«It’s not a law that is intended to be implemented,» he said. «It will waste a lot of taxpayer money and be litigated in court.»
Why is Montana banning TikTok?
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing. Some fear that data acquired by the app could be accessed by the Chinese Communist Party, and could pose a national security threat to the United States if the company is forced to share US user data with the Chinese government.
In November, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the app could be used to «control data collection on millions of users, or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used [to] influence operations if they so choose, or to control software on millions of devices.» FCC Commissioner Brian Carr last year called the app a «sophisticated surveillance tool.»
The ban wouldn’t take effect if TikTok is sold to a company not based in «any country designated as a foreign adversary» by the US government.
Montana’s ban is the first of its kind by a state, but in December, US lawmakers banned the app from government devices, and other countries have also restricted the app.
What does TikTok have to say about the China charges?
TikTok has denied that it feeds information to the Chinese government.
«There is no truth to the [Montana] governor’s claim that TikTok is associated with the Chinese government,» a representative for TikTok said in its first statement after the ban was announced. «The Chinese Communist Party has neither direct nor indirect control of ByteDance or TikTok. ByteDance is a private, global company, with roughly 60 percent owned by global institutional investors, 20 percent owned by the company’s founders, and 20 percent owned by employees — including thousands of Americans.»
TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Chew testified before Congress back in March. He said TikTok has been working on an initiative called Project Texas, which he said would create «a firewall that seals off protected US user data from unauthorized foreign access,» and include oversight by a US company.
What does the Montana TikTok ban involve?
The Montana police aren’t going to break down citizens’ doors and stop Billings or Butte teens from uploading or watching quirky dances or funny cat videos. Instead of going after individual users, the state’s attempting to prohibit mobile application stores from offering TikTok within the state.
So while the law does technically prohibit downloads of TikTok, it doesn’t mention fining regular citizens, just TikTok itself or whichever app store, Apple for iOS devices or Google for Android devices, allows Montanans access to it. The proposed fines are hefty — $10,000 per day for each time someone accesses TikTok, «is offered the ability» to access it, or downloads it. Again, those fines wouldn’t apply to the users, but the companies that allow them to get TikTok.
However, the bill also includes even stricter rules for state employees using government devices. It says that «effective June 1, no executive agency, board, commission, or other executive branch entity, official, or employee of the State of Montana shall download or access social media applications that provide personal information or data to foreign adversaries on government-issued devices or while connected to the state network.» And third-party firms conducting business for, or on behalf of, Montana are now prohibited «from using applications with ties to foreign adversaries.»
How will Montana enforce the TikTok ban?
This is unclear. The prohibitions on state employees and agencies kicks in June 1, but the main part of the ban won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2024. That gives the state some time to figure things out, and in the meantime, there will surely be lawsuits, likely from TikTok itself, and perhaps entities such as the ACLU.
But as far as enforcement itself, there are some idea. The Associated Press reports that Montana’s attorney general has suggested the technology used to restrict online gambling apps could be used. Violations can be reported by anyone, and the state then sends a cease-and-desist letter to the company.
Technologies
Tariffs Explained: Latest on Trump’s Shifting Import Tax Plan, and What It Means
Technologies
Apple, I’m (Sky) Blue About Your iPhone 17 Air Color
Commentary: The rumored new hue of the iPhone 17 Air is more sky blah than sky blue.

I can’t help but feel blue about the latest rumor that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 17 Air will take flight in a subtle, light-hued color called sky blue.
Sky blue isn’t a new color for Apple. It’s the featured shade of the current M4 MacBook Air, a shimmer of cerulean so subtle as to almost be missed. It’s silver left too close to an aquarium; silver that secretly likes to think it’s blue but doesn’t want everyone else to notice.
Do Apple employees get to go outside and see a real blue sky? It’s actually vivid, you can check for yourself. Perhaps the muted sky blue color reflects a Bay Area late winter/early spring frequent layer of clouds like we typically see here in Seattle.
«Who cares?» you might find yourself saying. «Everyone gets a case anyway.» I hear you and everyone else who’s told me that. But design-focused Apple is as obsessive about colors as they are about making their devices thinner. And I wonder if their heads are in the clouds about which hues adorn their pro products.
Making the case for a caseless color iPhone
I’m more invested in this conversation than most — I’m one of those freaks who doesn’t wrap my phone in a case. I find cases bulky and superfluous, and I like to be able to see Apple’s design work. Also, true story, I’ve broken my iPhone screen only twice: First when it was in a «bumper» that Apple sent free in response to the iPhone 4 you’re-holding-it-wrong Antennagate fiasco, and second when trying to take long exposure starry night photos using what I didn’t realize was a broken tripod mount. My one-week-old iPhone 13 Pro slipped sideways and landed screen-first on a pointy rock. A case wouldn’t have saved it.
My current model is an iPhone 16 Pro in black titanium — which I know seems like avoiding color entirely — but previously I’ve gone for colors like blue titanium and deep purple. I wanted to like deep purple the most but it came across as, in the words of Patrick Holland in his iPhone 14 Pro review, «a drab shade of gray or like Grimace purple,» depending on the light.
Pros can be bold, too
Maybe the issue is too many soft blues. Since the iPhone Pro age began with the iPhone 11 Pro, we’ve seen variations like blue titanium (iPhone 15 Pro), sierra blue (iPhone 13 Pro) and pacific blue (iPhone 12 Pro).
Pacific blue is the boldest of the bunch, if by bold you mean dark enough to discern from silver, but it’s also close enough to that year’s graphite color that seeing blue depends on the surrounding lighting. By comparison, the blue (just «blue») color of the iPhone 12 was unmistakably bright blue.
In fact, the non-Pro lines have embraced vibrant colors. It’s as if Apple is equating «pro» with «sophisticated,» as in «A real pro would never brandish something this garish.» I see this in the camera world all the time: If it’s not all-black, it’s not a «serious» camera.
And yet I know lots of pros who are not sophisticated — proudly so. People choose colors to express themselves, so forcing that idea of professionalism through color feels needlessly restrictive. A bright pink iPhone 16 might make you smile every time you pick it up but then frown because it doesn’t have a telephoto camera.
Color is also important because it can sway a purchase decision. «I would buy a sky blue iPhone yesterday,» my colleague Gael Cooper texted after the first rumor popped online. When each new generation of iPhones arrive, less technically different than the one before, a color you fall in love with can push you into trading in your perfectly-capable model for a new one.
And lest you think Apple should just stick with black and white for its professional phones: Do you mean black, jet black, space black, midnight black, black titanium, graphite or space gray? At least the lighter end of the spectrum has stuck to just white, white titanium and silver over the years.
Apple never got ahead by being beige
I’m sure Apple has reams of studies and customer feedback that support which colors make it to production each year. Like I said, Apple’s designers are obsessive (in a good way). And I must remind myself that a sky blue iPhone 17 Air is a rumored color on a rumored product so all the usual caveats apply.
But we’re talking about Apple here. The scrappy startup that spent more than any other company on business cards at the time because each one included the old six-color Apple logo. The company that not only shaped the first iMac like a tipped-over gumdrop, that not only made the case partially see-through but then made that cover brilliant Bondi blue.
Embrace the iPhone colors, Apple.
If that makes you nervous, don’t worry: Most people will put a case on it anyway.
Technologies
Astronomers Say There’s an Increased Possibility of Life on This Distant Planet
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are working to confirm potential evidence of life on a distant exoplanet dubbed K2-18b.

Astronomers are nearing a statistically significant finding that could confirm the potential signs of life detected on the distant exoplanet K2-18b are no accident.
The team of astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (which has only been in use since the end of 2021) to detect chemical traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which they say can only be produced by life such as phytoplankton in the sea.
According to the university, «the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.»
The findings were published this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and point to the possibility of an ocean on this planet’s surface, which scientists have been hoping to discover for years. In the abstract for the paper, the team says, «The possibility of hycean worlds, with planet-wide oceans and H2-rich atmospheres, significantly expands and accelerates the search for habitable environments elsewhere.»
Not everyone agrees, however, that what the team found proves there’s life on the exoplanet.
Science writer and OpenMind Magazine founder Corey S. Powell posted about the findings on Bluesky, writing, «The potential discovery of alien life is so enticing that it drags even reputable outlets into running naive or outright misleading stories.» He added, «Here we go again with planet K2-18b.Um….there’s strong evidence of non-biological sources of the molecule DMS.»
K2-18b is 124 light-years away and much larger than Earth (more than eight times our mass), but smaller than Neptune. The search for signs of even basic life on a planet like this increases the chances that there are more planets like Earth that may be inhabitable, with temperatures and atmospheres that could sustain human-like lifeforms. The team behind the paper hopes that more study with the James Webb Space Telescope will help confirm their initial findings.
More research to do on finding life on K2-18b
The exoplanet K2-18b is not the only place where scientists are exploring the possibility of life, and this research is still an early step in the process, said Christopher Glein, a geochemist, planetary researcher and lead scientist at San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute. Excitement over the significance of the research, he said, should be tempered.
«We need to be careful here,» Glein said. «It appears that there is something in the data that can’t be explained, and DMS/DMDS can provide an explanation. But this detection is stretching the limits of JWST’s capabilities.»
Glein added, «Further work is needed to test whether these molecules are actually present. We also need complementary research assessing the abiotic background on K2-18b and similar planets. That is, the chemistry that can occur in the absence of life in this potentially exotic environment. We might be seeing evidence of some cool chemistry rather than life.»
The TRAPPIST-1 planets, he said, are being researched as potentially habitable, as is LHS 1140b, which he said «is another astrobiologically significant exoplanet, which might be a massive ocean world.»
As for K2-18b, Glein said many more tests need to be performed before there’s consensus on life existing on it.
«Finding evidence of life is like prosecuting a case in the courtroom,» Glein said. «Multiple independent lines of evidence are needed to convince the jury, in this case the worldwide scientific community.» He added, «If this finding holds up, then that’s Step 1.»
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