It was last week only when a memo by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey came out in which she announced a ban on the use of TikTok by all government agencies and networks. And now Alabama’s state-run university- Auburn University blocks TikTok on campus. With this implementation, TikTok will no longer be accessible to students and faculty of Auburn University on the servers and devices owned by the university. In her memo to the state agency head last week, Governor Ivey said, “Protecting the state of Alabama and our citizens’ right to privacy is a must, and I surely don’t take a security threat from China lightly.”
Auburn University Blocks TikTok on Campus
Governor Ivey even mentioned in her memo that “After we discussed this with our [Office of Information Technology] secretary, I came to the no brainer decision to ban the use of the TikTok app on our state devices and network.” Knowing how people will react to such a ban on one of the most used and popular apps in the US, she added, “Look, I’m no TikTok user, but the evidence speaks for itself, and I want to make sure I’m doing everything we can as a state to stand against this growing security risk.” So following the scenario, the state-owned university of Alabama takes the tough decision of banning TikTok for their students and faculty even though they know the fact that these students, Gen Z, make up the majority of TikTok users. A week before, when the memo came out, the university spokesperson informed about the same to students and faculty saying that the TikTok app would no longer be accessible on school servers and devices and wifi from now onwards. Even a memo was sent to faculty and students in which the School Official recommended removing TikTok app even from their personal devices. In the memo, Offical said, “Efforts are underway to remove TikTok from all state-owned devices provided by Auburn. Note also that the new policy recommends removing TikTok from personal devices to protect a person’s privacy there as well.” And to make it clear to you, it is not just the state of Alabama that is imposing such restrictions on the use of TikTok, but there are other states like Maryland, South Carolina, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Utah that have banned the use of TikTok. Even Georgia joined the club and banned not just TikTok but even WeChat and Telegram. Though Georgia state law doesn’t allow Governors to order public universities any such order directly. At one place where every state government is saying that they are banning TikTok to safeguard the interest of its public and to protect their personal data, which the Chinese government can use against them. On the other hand, TikTok is naming it as a “political move.” And downplaying all the allegations by saying, “As we’ve publicly stated, we’ve brought in world-class internal and external security experts to help us strengthen our data security efforts.” The company even said that they have created a new department named US Data Security “to provide a greater level of focus and governance on US data security.” As you all know, TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. And when things are not good between the two countries, such bans and other tactics come into play to dominate each other. And many times, such bans are imposed in the name of protection from Cyber vulnerabilities, to avoid direct confrontation, and to lessen the soft power of the other country, which can be a threat to the political gain of our country. Also, read Reasons Why These 5 Countries Banned TikTok!
Wrapping Up
With this, I came to the end of this blog, and I hope you get to know all the necessary information regarding Auburn University blocks TikTok on Campus. So, guys, that is it for today. Take care! And keep visiting our website, Path of Ex, for more such updates related to Social media, Gaming, and Technology. Till then, Bye! Bye!
Δ
