HELENA — Montana’s TikTok ban is officially over, as the state and the social media company agreed to dismiss a federal lawsuit over the ban. The withdrawal comes after it was announced last month that a new U.S.-based entity would take over the management of the app. Both sides agreed that a change in management was enough to void Montana's law.
On Friday, the parties filed a joint stipulation of dismissal, effectively bringing a nearly three-year-long legal dispute to an end.
In 2023, the Montana Legislature passed Senate Bill 419, a state-level ban on TikTok, which Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law. Montana was the first state in the nation to pass such a law, with elected leaders on the state and national levels warning that the app could expose users’ data to China. The ban never actually took effect, however, with a federal judge blocking the legislation after it was challenged by a group of Montana-based content creators, arguing it violated free speech rights.
In 2024, Congress passed a law that required TikTok to be sold to a company outside China or face a nationwide ban. That federal law was slated to go into effect last year, but President Trump announced his administration wouldn’t enforce it while they attempted to reach an agreement on new ownership.
The Montana lawsuit had been sitting in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals since May 2024, with the Judge delaying proceedings pending a resolution of the nationwide ban.
In January 2026, TikTok announced the creation of a new company called “TikTok USDS Joint Venture.” Among its owners will be the tech company Oracle and investment firms Silver Lake and MGX – and ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, will retain a minority share.
Montana’s SB 419 had a specific provision stating the ban would automatically be invalid if TikTok were acquired by a company not incorporated in China or by a company designated a “foreign adversary” by the federal government. The stipulation of dismissal says “all parties agree that SB 419 is void” because of the transfer to the new joint venture.
Attorney General Austin Knudsen was one of the main backers of Montana’s state ban.
"Attorney General Knudsen has been the leader in the effort to protect Americans’ security and privacy posed by TikTok,” spokesperson Amanda Braynack told MTN in a statement in January. “At this time, we are still evaluating the deal and its implications on our ongoing litigation."
