Montana AG Cheers US Congress Advancing TikTok Crackdown Following His State’s Lead

‘We have a legitimate national security concern,’ Austin Knudsen says.

Montana's Attorney General Austin Knudsen in an interview with NTD on March 12, 2024, in a still from video. NTD

Montana’s Republican attorney general is cheering on U.S. lawmakers weighing legislation to restrict the Chinese-owned TikTok social media platform, and is taking these recent congressional actions as vindication of Montana’s own efforts to ban TikTok throughout the state.

Last week, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted 50–0 to advance legislation that could significantly impact TikTok’s U.S. operations. Committee Chair Cathy McMorris-Rogers (R-Wash.) said the legislation would force a choice: “Divest from your parent company, which is beholden to the Chinese Communist Party, and remain in operation in the United States, or side with the Chinese Communist Party and face a ban.”