This is the best summary I could come up with:

Sept 18 (Reuters) - A group of 18 state attorneys general said on Monday they backed Montana’s effort to ban Chinese-owned short video app TikTok, urging a U.S. judge to reject legal challenges ahead of the Jan. 1 effective date.

TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday, and filed a suit in May seeking to block the first-of-its-kind U.S. state ban on several grounds, arguing it violates the First Amendment free speech rights of the company and users.

The states say TikTok, which is used by more than 150 million Americans, has faced growing calls from U.S. lawmakers for a nationwide ban over concerns about possible Chinese government influence.

Last month, Attorney General Austin Knudsen, a Republican, said the state legislature and governor “did the right thing in prohibiting TikTok from operating in Montana as long as it is under the control of a foreign adversary.”

In March, lawmakers accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting “emotional distress” on young users.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020 sought to bar new downloads of TikTok but a series of court decisions blocked the ban from taking effect.

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