Several US colleges ban TikTok from campuses
Some colleges in the country have banned TikTok on campus servers and Wifi.
After state governors banned TikTok on all government owned devices, the University of Texas Austin and Auburn University in Alabama blocked TikTok on the university’s wired and wifi networks.
UT Austin student Bernice Ong-Trieu said she had never heard of social media being banned on campus before and didn’t think it was necessary.
“I have data everywhere, my school knows my data, FAFSA has my social security, I was like what do I have to hide?” Ong-Trieu said.
But the university says it is a security issue. China’s laws on data collection are different than in the U.S. This poses security concerns about TikTok users’ personal information being collected by the Chinese government.
According to The Wall Street Journal, TikTok has revealed a 1.5 billion dollar plan in an effort to show transparency. The company plans to hire 2500 employees to a U.S. data security team to help protect U.S. policies on user information safety.
Last month Governor Cox added Utah to the list of states with a TikTok ban on all government owned devices. Students at BYU say they don’t think TikTok should be banned at BYU.
BYU student Kiner Kwok said he didn’t know why BYU would need to ban TikTok on campus.
“Quite frankly I think BYU should educate their students to learn how to properly use social media but I think banning social media like TikTok in general I don’t see it as necessary,” Kwok said.
BYU student Carly Dodds said even though she didn’t personally use TikTok, she thought it was a form of expression and shouldn’t be
banned.
“TikTok and social media are ways that we can have a voice in the world, you know we have the first amendment that says freedom of speech, I feel like TikTok and social media are part of that we have things that we each can say that we say that can add to the world,” Dodds said.
BYU University Communications said this executive order does not apply to BYU or BYU owned devices or networks.