TikTok has filed a lawsuit in a United States federal court to stop the state of Montana from implementing a new law banning the video-sharing app statewide.

The lawsuit filed on Monday called on the federal court to declare the Montana ban on its app unconstitutional and block the state from ever putting it into effect.

“The state has enacted these extraordinary and unprecedented measures based on nothing more than unfounded speculation,” TikTok argued.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed the unprecedented prohibition into law on 17 May to “protect Montanans’ personal and private data from the Chinese Communist Party.”

The lawsuit is the second to be filed against the ban.

Last week, five TikTok users asked a federal court to overturn Montana’s ban on the app, arguing that it violates their free speech rights.

The state is trying to exercise national security power that only the federal government can wield and is violating free speech rights in the process, both suits filed against Montana argue.

The app is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance and is accused by a wide swath of US politicians of being under the tutelage of the Chinese government and a tool of espionage by Beijing, something the company furiously denies.

Montana became the first US state to ban TikTok as debate escalates over the impact and security of the popular video app.