Texas have taken drastic measures to protect their students' cybersecurity by banning TikTok
Universities across Texas have taken drastic measures to protect their students' cybersecurity by banning TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks.
After Governor Abbott expressed concerns over the app developers' ties with China and called TikTok a "national security threat and a cybersecurity risk to all Texans", major Texas universities have followed suit and restricted access to the app.
The University of North Texas, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas at Austin have all negated access to the app on school Wi-Fi networks, leaving students confused and disappointed. "This is kind of weird," said Dylan Spitaletto, a digital broadcast major at UNT. "Just last semester making TikToks was a part of our grade and now we can't even use it on the school Wi-Fi."
The University of Texas at Dallas and the Texas A&M system have also jumped on the TikTok-banning bandwagon, leaving students feeling like they're stuck in a time warp with no access to their favorite lip-syncing app.
In an email sent to UT students, the university cited cybersecurity risks as reasons for the sudden embargo. "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."
TikTok, however, is not amused by the ban and released a statement saying, "We’re disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok.”
Looks like Texas students will have to find a new app to showcase their dance moves and lip-syncing skills. Good luck with that
