These Colleges Just Banned TikTok

• Multiple governors have issued orders banning TikTok from government networks and devices.
• The bans address some politicians' concerns that ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is sending information to the Chinese government.
• If a state governor bans TikTok from government devices, colleges and universities in that state don't have to restrict it from their internet access.
• Montana is the first state to ban the application from all application stores.

College students looking forward to showing the world their dorm setup next semester may have to hop off their campus WiFi to post on and watch TikTok. Montana students will have to go without it entirely in 2024.

Montana is the first state to ban use of TikTok from being accessed and from being distributed on all application stores. Gov. Greg Gianforte signed Senate Bill 419 on May 17 and it goes into effect January 1, 2024.

While Montana University students have been able to bypass institution WiFi by going on cellular data after the system banned TikTok, students in Montana will soon be unable to download the app.

Montana's ban is the latest – and most draconian – move by states to ban TikTok from government-owned devices and networks because the app is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese tech company that some politicians fear is sharing information with the Chinese government.

"The Chinese Communist Party using TikTok to spy on Americans, violate their privacy, and collect their personal, private, and sensitive information is well-documented," Gov. Gianforte said. "Today, Montana takes the most decisive action of any state to protect Montanans’ private data and sensitive personal information from being harvested by the Chinese Communist Party."

TikTok has filed a federal lawsuit against Montana that argues banning the social media app amounts to an illegal suppression of free speech. The Montana law "unlawfully abridges one of the core freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment," the suit claims.

Banning TikTok at the state level is becoming increasingly common. In Florida and Tennessee, for instance, bans have effectively cut off access to TikTok via college campus WiFi networks.

Gov. Ron Desantis on May 8 signed three bills his office said would "counteract the malign influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida."

Senate Bill 258 blocks "all prohibited applications from public access on any wireless network and virtual private network owned, operated, or maintained by the governmental entity or public educational institution." TikTok is among those prohibited applications.

"We think that's appropriate because we think whatever utility these applications have is clearly outweighed by the benefit that the CCP gets from data mining and being able to collect information," DeSantis said in a press conference.

Florida's ban happened almost one month after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on signed Senate Bill 0834, which bans individuals "... to access a social media platform using the institution's network if the platform is operated or hosted by a company based in the People's Republic of China."

When Did TikTok Bans Start?

TikTok bans in higher education began in December 2022, when Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order banning TikTok for all state agencies, employees, and contractors on government networks and devices.

"Maintaining the cybersecurity of state government is necessary to continue to serve and protect Oklahoma citizens and we will not participate in helping the Chinese Communist Party gain access to government information," Stitt said in a press release.

The University of Oklahoma sent an email to the campus community on Dec. 20, saying that it banned TikTok on all university-owned and operated devices, which includes wired and wireless internet. Langston University, the only historically Black college or university (HBCU) in the state, announced Dec. 22 that it also would immediately ban access to TikTok.

Colleges That Have Blocked TikTok From Internet Access

Last Updated: May 23, 2023 at 11:26 A.M. EST

According to Oklahoma News 9, Oklahoma State University, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Northwestern Oklahoma State University have also banned on-campus network access to TikTok.

Last January, a tranche of Texas institutions, including University of Texas (UT) at Austin, followed Oklahoma's lead.

On Jan. 17, the UT Austin technology strategy advisor sent an email to students saying that students will be unable to access TikTok on wired and wireless campus networks.

According to Oklahoma News 9, Oklahoma State University, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Northwestern Oklahoma State University have also banned on-campus network access to TikTok.

The letter said that UT Austin is taking these steps to comply with Texas Governor Greg Abbott's directive against TikTok.

"As outlined in the governor's directive, TikTok harvests vast amounts of data from its users' devices - including when, where and how they conduct internet activity - and offers this trove of potentially sensitive information to the Chinese government."

If a state governor bans TikTok from government devices, colleges and universities in that state don't have to restrict it from their internet access.

For instance, Alabama has banned TikTok from government devices. However, so far, only the state's Auburn University has taken it further to ban the app from its internet access.

According to reporting from NBC News, a spokesperson for Auburn University said, "Note also that the new policy recommends removing TikTok from personal devices to protect a person's privacy there as well. The governor's order addresses the growing risk of intrusive social media applications harvesting data totally unrelated to business use of the platform."

As politicians continue to posture on and legislate the fate of TikTok, BestColleges is tracking which colleges and universities have actually banned the app from their internet networks and institution-issued devices.

Sources: Arkansas State University, THV11, Boise State University, Montana University System, Langston University, University of Oklahoma, Lamar University, The Texas Tribune, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas at Dallas, Business Insider, KWTX.com, KKTV.com, University of Mississippi, 4029TV.com, KGNS.tv, The Famuan, WMBF News, The Exponent, WCTV, The Grand Forks Herald, 7 News Miami, The Tampa Bay Times, Local10.com, Tennessee General Assembly, Executive Office of Governor Ron DeSantis, Coastal Carolina University, Montana.Gov, ABC 12 News.