Texas universities block access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks
Students and faculty will not be able to access the popular social media app while connected to university internet servers.
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 recent directive requiring all state agencies to remove the app from government-issued devices, according to an email sent to students Tuesday.
“The university is taking these important steps to eliminate risks to information contained in the university’s network and to our critical infrastructure,” UT-Austin technology adviser Jeff Neyland wrote in the email. “As outlined in the governor’s directive, TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users’ devices — including when, where and how they conduct internet activity — and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government.”
Since the university’s announcement Tuesday morning, multiple Texas university spokespeople, including those at the University of Texas at Dallas and Texas A&M University System, have announced they are also restricting the use of the app on their campus networks.
“[W]e are in the process of putting in place network based filtering that will block both wireless and wired access to downloading or accessing the app from our campus network, which means students, faculty, staff and visitors will not be able to use the app when connected to an A&M network,” said Laylan Copelin, system spokesperson.
Abbott’s Dec. 7 directive stated that all state agencies must ban employees from downloading or using the app on government-issued devices, including cellphones, laptops and desktops, with exceptions for law enforcement agencies. He also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Department of Information Resources to create a plan to guide state agencies on how to handle the use of TikTok on personal devices, including those that have access to a state employee’s email account or connect to a state agency network.
That plan was to be distributed to state agencies by Jan. 15, and each state agency is expected to create its own policy regarding the use of TikTok on personal devices by Feb. 15, according to Abbott’s directive. Two public universities, the University of Houston and Texas Tech University, said in separate statements they are still waiting for state guidance to be released.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the University of Texas at Dallas announced it would ban the social media app on its networks as well, excluding university-owned housing because a third party operates those networks. 1/2
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/education/ut-austin-blocks-access-tiktok-campus-wifi/269-1f596dd6-e37a-4e3d-aac6-1311c26ccc8f