New York
CNN
—
The Florida State University System Board of Trustees has banned social media app TikTok and several other software, apps and developers from use on university-owned devices “due to continued and increased cyber threats.”
In a memo sent Wednesday to State University System chancellors, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said, “The regulation requires institutions to remove the State University System (SUS) Prohibited Technology List from any university-owned technologies and block the web traffic associated with those technologies.”
The ban is effective immediately, the memo said.
“Data privacy, especially regarding student data and faculty research, is a top priority for the Florida State University system,” the board of trustees said in a statement to CNN.
“Therefore, at the March 29 meeting of the Florida Board of Governors, the Board of Governors unanimously approved an emergency regulation prohibiting the use of TikTok and other foreign conduct identified as immediate national security risks on the campuses of our 12 public universities by,” Council.
In addition to TikTok, the banned technologies include Kaspersky, VKontakte, Tencent QQ, WeChat and any of their subsidiaries or affiliates.
CNN reached out to them for comment.
TikTok spokeswoman Hilary McQuaide said: “TikTok has taken unprecedented action to address national security concerns by keeping American user data safe within the United States. The best way to address national security concerns is Transparent, U.S.-based protections for U.S. user data and systems, and the robust third-party monitoring, scrutiny, and verification we already have in place.”
“TikTok is enjoyed by more than 150 million Americans, including college students and teachers in classrooms,” McQuaide added.
Bans and regulations on TikTok in particular and social media sites in general have been on the rise in the US and Europe as concerns over privacy, national security and child safety mount.
Late last month, the governor of Utah signed a bill requiring teens to get parental consent to use social media. Earlier this week, the U.K.’s Information Commissioner’s Office, which oversees data, fined TikTok for multiple violations of data protection laws. Italy is investigating TikTok for “dangerous content.”