Our Viewpoint: Controlling information

Montana legislators voted this month to ban TikTok. The legislation states that "TikTok's stealing of information and data from users and its ability to share that data with the Chinese Communist Party unacceptably infringes on Montana's right to privacy."

The bill also accuses TikTok of failing to remove "dangerous content that directs minors to engage in dangerous activities," then goes on to describe those activities, such as attempting to climb stacks of milkcrates, pouring hot wax on a user's face and cooking chicken in NyQuil.

Now, kids make some dumb decisions. So do adults. At some point there has to be some level of personal responsibility.

A colleague in another state asked me what I thought about Montana banning TikTok. I told him I downloaded the app once, spent way too long looking at dumb videos, then deleted it. I then told him I'll do the mature thing and just watch TikTok videos through Instagram.

The government banning the internet or other forms of media does not sit well with me as a journalist. It's a slippery slope when we start controlling information.

The point is, people are going to find a way to access information. Just because kids can't download TikTok to their smartphones or tablets doesn't mean they won't watch vidoes of stupid human tricks on another app. Parents need to be responsible enough to teach their kids not to cook chicken in Nyquil or smear human feces on their faces (also mentioned in the bill). And while it's great to think that there is still some expectation of privacy with our data, realistically whatever you say or type on a computer or other device, you need to be OK with someone else seeing.

Montana legislators banning TikTok probably isn't going to mean much to the Chinese company who owns the app. What helps me sleep at night is just knowing that in the big picture, China probably doesn't care too much about all the videos I watch about cute puppies or cake decorating.

­ — Annie Wooden