Texas universities ban app

Universities across the country are banning faculty, students, and visitors from accessing TikTok on campus wifi …

Transcript

00:00The University of Texas at Austin will no longer allow students, faculty, or visitors to access

00:05TikTok on the college's Wi-Fi. And they aren't the only school with this new rule.

00:10So why are universities banning the app?

00:12Brooke can explain in less than 60 seconds.

00:14Back in December, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to remove the app from

00:18government-issued devices due to cybersecurity concerns.

00:22An email sent to students at UT of Austin, a public university,

00:25let them know of the new policy, which directly cited the governor's directive.

00:29A TikTok spokesperson said the move was a way to jump on the political bandwagon

00:33based on assertions that are unfounded falsehoods about TikTok.

00:36And the politics they're talking about are the national concerns regarding the privacy

00:40and security within the app, which is owned by the China-based company ByteDance.

00:44Other universities have done the same, including Auburn University,

00:48University of Oklahoma, and schools within the University System of Georgia.

00:52Students will still be able to access the app via their own

00:54personal Wi-Fi connections or using cellular data.