Florida Public Colleges ban Tik Tok on school devices

Florida universities are cracking down on popular social media app TikTok due to concerns over cyber threats. The State University System of Florida Board of Governors recently implemented a ban on the app for school-owned devices at state universities, as well as banning several other software, applications, and developers. The ban was initiated immediately after a memo went out to state university system presidents. Chancellor Ray Rodrigues stated that this regulation requires institutions to remove technologies from the State University System Prohibited Technologies List from any university-owned device and to block network traffic associated with these technologies.

The University of Florida, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of South Florida already had the ban in place. Florida A&M University, a Florida-based HBCU that previously used the app, banned TikTok from their campus last month, with several students raising concerns over the sudden change, saying it limited their free speech and cutting off a way of communicating.

While Florida universities are taking action to protect their faculty, staff, and students from potential cyber threats, TikTok officials have emphasized that security isn’t a threat while using the app. A TikTok spokesperson said that the app has taken unprecedented actions to address national security concerns by securing U.S. user data on U.S. soil. The app is enjoyed by over 150 million Americans, including university and college students and teachers who use it to engage in the classroom.