NY
CNN
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The Florida State University System Board of Governors has banned the use of the social media app TikTok, as well as certain other programs, apps, and developers, on university-owned devices “due to the ongoing and growing number of cyber threats.”
In a memo sent Wednesday to state university system presidents, Chancellor Ray Rodriguez said, “This ruling requires institutions to remove technologies posted on the Public University System (SUS) Technology Ban List from any device owned by the university and block network traffic. associated with these technologies”.
The ban takes effect immediately, the memorandum says.
“Data privacy, especially with regard to student data and faculty research, is a critical priority for the Florida Public University System,” the Board of Governors said in a statement to CNN.
“Therefore, at a meeting of the Florida Board of Governors on March 29, the Board unanimously approved a state of emergency banning the use of TikTok and other foreign entities identified as an imminent threat to national security on our 12 public university campuses,” the post reads. Board of Governors.
In addition to TikTok, prohibited technologies include Kaspersky, VKontakte, Tencent QQ, WeChat and any subsidiaries or affiliates.
CNN reached out to them for comment.
TikTok spokesperson Hilary McQuaid said, “TikTok has taken unprecedented action to address national security concerns by protecting US user data on US soil. The best way to address national security concerns is to transparently protect US user data and US-based systems with the robust third-party monitoring, validation, and verification that we are already implementing.”
McQuaid added that “More than 150 million Americans use TikTok, including university and college students and educators.”
Bans and regulation of TikTok in particular, and social media sites in general, are intensifying in the US and Europe as privacy, national security and child safety concerns rise.
Late last month, the Utah governor signed a bill that would require teens to get parental permission to use social media. Earlier this week, the United Kingdom Information Commissioner’s Office, which regulates data, fined TikTok for a series of data protection law violations. Italy is investigating TikTok for “dangerous content”.