The University of North Florida has banned the TikTok app from being used on any university-owned device or on any phones over university Wi-Fi. The ban complies with new regulation by the State University System Board of Governors. The new regulation comes weeks after the federal government did the same thing on the federal level.
The apps Tencent QQ, WeChat, VKontakte and Kaspersky have also been banned. UNF states they are complying with new federal and state regulations, as the apps “have been identified as having a significant security risk on personal data and infrastructure.” The University of Florida and other institutions in the state had already banned the apps.
Personal devices owned by faculty or students will not be affected unless they use UNF’s wireless or wired networks. Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand have taken similar steps. The current ban applies only to government devices and networks, though that may soon change if the Biden Administration has its way. President Biden has warned China that TikTok must be sold to a non Chinese affiliated company or risk a full ban in the United States.