On Wednesday, April 5, at 1:20 pm, an email went out to all members of Florida International University, which contained the banning of TikTok on campus using the university’s WiFi as an effort to prevent cyber threats. The students did not take to it too well. However, they are still able to use the app using their cellular data if they have any.
The contents of this email were as follows:
“Dear members of the university community,
The Board of Governors for the State University System (SUS) of Florida met on March 29, 2023, and approved an emergency amendment to regulation 3.0075, Security of Data Related Information Technology Resources. The amendment requires SUS universities to remove any technology published in the State University System (SUS) Prohibited Technologies List from university-owned devices and to block them from network access, both wired and wireless.
As part of our ongoing efforts to protect you and the University’s information against cyber threats, effectively immediately, FIU will be implementing the statewide emergency regulation and prohibit access to the following applications currently published in the SUS Prohibited Technologies List.
- Kaspersky
- VKontakte
- Tencent QQ
- TikTok
And any subsidiary or affiliate of an entity listed above.
These applications will not work on a personal device either while using the university’s network.
If your department or unit has installed any of these applications to conduct university business, immediately discontinue use and uninstall it from any university-owned devices.
As a reminder, protecting you and the University against cyber threats is of utmost importance. Be mindful of the applications you use that may impact your personal and confidential information.”
The students of the university had already been dreading this change and prohibition since other universities across Florida had already partaken in the banning of the app. In fact, FIU is just joining UF, FSU, FAU, and USF among state universities that have banned the widely used app from their school internet.
7News Miami cameras captured students’ reactions on campus the same Wednesday that it was banned. And students express that their main source of information has been cut off: “Yeah, it’s not loading anymore; this one video is all I get today”
Some students, however, agree with the decision, not for the reasons that the University expresses – the fear of getting hacked by the Chinese government – but because it can be a distraction: “Honestly, you should do it; there are so many people of my generation, instead of focusing on your goals,”
Whatever the case may be, this is only the beginning, as now we are susceptible to this ban all across the country.
