Last month, Montana’s government passed a state ban on TikTok, becoming the first state to prohibit this social media platform. This could lead to a decrease in income for many people throughout the state.
22-year-old Carly Ann Goddard is a young mother of one who lives in a small and isolated town in eastern Montana. Feeling depressed and isolated, she decided to try out posting short videos about her life as the wife of a rancher after she was inspired when she saw another mom making TikTok posts about her life. Now, she uploads short videos several times each week and gets 99,000 people who watch her videos, which as stated in The Washington Post, is “660 times the population of the town where she lives.” Because some of her videos support many sellers by talking about specific products, she earns an income of $2,000 to $6,000 each month. According to The Washington Post, Goddard said, “I feel like I have found my purpose. I wake up every morning, loving that I do this, loving that I get to stay home with my son. … It’s built my confidence.” Goddard has also made several deals with brands like Baby Bjorn and Caraway cookware. The ban could take away all the opportunities and profits that she has worked so hard to earn by posting on the app.
Montana’s ban on TikTok was mainly made because numerous people have reported concerns about how the social media platform can fish out people’s personal data since it can access their search history and phone contacts. There are also several parents that complain that their children are too distracted by the app, so it deserves to be banned. But Goddard and some fellow TikTokers who are in favor of TikTok feel like there is a lot of misunderstanding. According to Gizmodo, Goddard said, “I feel like there are a lot of people that don’t understand this app. Some people think it’s just all about dancing. It’s not. There are young moms like me that just want to be able to stay home and be able to afford groceries and pay their bills.”
This ban won’t go into effect until next year, but it may violate Goddard’s and other TikTokers’ First Amendment rights, so they are filing a lawsuit against Montana’s TikTok ban. If Montana doesn’t do anything about it, it will really be a struggle for Goddard to go back to earning paychecks and having to limit their grocery shopping. As stated in an article by Yahoo, plaintiffs that filed the lawsuit wrote that “the ban would immediately and permanently deprive Plaintiffs of their ability to express themselves and communicate with others.”
The results on whether the lawsuit will work or not is still unknown, but if the federal government places a nationwide ban on TikTok, then Montana’s ban on TikTok will continue to be official.
22-year-old Carly Ann Goddard is a young mother of one who lives in a small and isolated town in eastern Montana. Feeling depressed and isolated, she decided to try out posting short videos about her life as the wife of a rancher after she was inspired when she saw another mom making TikTok posts about her life. Now, she uploads short videos several times each week and gets 99,000 people who watch her videos, which as stated in The Washington Post, is “660 times the population of the town where she lives.” Because some of her videos support many sellers by talking about specific products, she earns an income of $2,000 to $6,000 each month. According to The Washington Post, Goddard said, “I feel like I have found my purpose. I wake up every morning, loving that I do this, loving that I get to stay home with my son. … It’s built my confidence.” Goddard has also made several deals with brands like Baby Bjorn and Caraway cookware. The ban could take away all the opportunities and profits that she has worked so hard to earn by posting on the app.
Montana’s ban on TikTok was mainly made because numerous people have reported concerns about how the social media platform can fish out people’s personal data since it can access their search history and phone contacts. There are also several parents that complain that their children are too distracted by the app, so it deserves to be banned. But Goddard and some fellow TikTokers who are in favor of TikTok feel like there is a lot of misunderstanding. According to Gizmodo, Goddard said, “I feel like there are a lot of people that don’t understand this app. Some people think it’s just all about dancing. It’s not. There are young moms like me that just want to be able to stay home and be able to afford groceries and pay their bills.”
This ban won’t go into effect until next year, but it may violate Goddard’s and other TikTokers’ First Amendment rights, so they are filing a lawsuit against Montana’s TikTok ban. If Montana doesn’t do anything about it, it will really be a struggle for Goddard to go back to earning paychecks and having to limit their grocery shopping. As stated in an article by Yahoo, plaintiffs that filed the lawsuit wrote that “the ban would immediately and permanently deprive Plaintiffs of their ability to express themselves and communicate with others.”
The results on whether the lawsuit will work or not is still unknown, but if the federal government places a nationwide ban on TikTok, then Montana’s ban on TikTok will continue to be official.
