UT-Austin bans TikTok from campus Wi-Fi | Aici

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The University of Texas at Austin has blocked access to the video-sharing app TikTok on its Wi-Fi and wired networks in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest order requiring all government agencies to remove the app from government-issued devices, according to a report. An email was sent to students on Tuesday.

“The university is taking these important steps to eliminate risks to information contained on the university’s network and our critical infrastructure,” UT-Austin technology advisor Jeff Neyland wrote in an email. “As described in the governor’s order, TikTok harvests a large amount of data from its users’ devices — including when, where and how they conduct online activity — and provides this potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government.”

TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. Last month, FBI Director Chris Wray raised national security concerns about the Chinese government’s ability to collect data on users and use the app’s algorithms to “manipulate content” and “use it to influence operations.” “

Abbott’s Dec. 7 executive order said all federal agencies must prevent employees from downloading or using the app on government-issued devices, including cell phones, laptops and desktops, except for law enforcement agencies. He also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Information Services to create a plan to guide state agencies on how to handle the use of TikTok on personal devices, including those that access or connect to a state employee’s email account. government agency network. That plan was to be distributed to government agencies on Jan. 15.

Each federal agency is expected to create its own policy regarding the use of TikTok on personal devices by Feb. 15.

More than half of US states have banned the use of social media apps on government devices in some way in recent months, according to a CNN analysis. Across the country, a growing number of universities have banned the app from devices connected to campus networks, including Auburn University in Alabama, the University of Oklahoma and schools within the University System of Georgia.

The ban could have a wide-ranging impact, especially for universities that serve college-age students, a key demographic that uses the app. University admissions departments have used it to communicate with prospective students, and many athletic departments have used TikTok to promote sports events and teams. It’s also unclear how the ban will affect faculty who conduct research on the app or professors who teach in areas such as communications or public relations, where TikTok is a widely used medium.

In a statement, a TikTok representative said they were disappointed by the news.

“We are disappointed that many states are jumping into the political arena to enact policies that will do nothing to improve cybersecurity in their states and are based on baseless lies about TikTok,” wrote spokesperson Jamal Brown. “We are deeply saddened to see the unintended consequences of these hasty policies beginning to impact universities’ ability to share information, recruit students, and build communities in sports teams, student groups, campus publications, and more.”

Representatives of the state’s other largest public universities — including Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University and the University of Houston — did not immediately respond to questions about whether university leaders planned to take similar measures on their campuses.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonprofit news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.