Officials at the campus in Norman announced the move Tuesday, Dec. 20, in an email to students and staff, news outlets reported. Under the new protocol, TikTok can no longer be accessed on university devices, or by using the school’s WiFi or wired networks, KFOR reported.
The move comes shortly after Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed an executive order barring state employees and contractors from using the popular China-owned social media app, citing security concerns.
“TikTok is now banned from state devices and state networks in Oklahoma,” Stitt said in a Dec. 8 tweet. “We will not participate in helping the Chinese Communist Party gain access to government information.”
At the same time OU issued its ban on TikTok, so did the University System of Georgia, effectively blacklisting the app at every public university in the state, the Associated Press reported.
TikTok has over 1 billion users worldwide, including 135 million in the United States, and is owned and operated by Chinese tech company ByteDance, Stitt’s executive order points out.
This potentially gives ByteDance — and by extension the Chinese government — unprecedented access to, and influence over, a huge swath of the American public, government officials and institutions of higher learning.
And Oklahoma isn’t alone in its distrust of TikTok, as U.S. officials have long expressed concern.
Earlier this month, FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of the power China’s communist party can wield through TikTok — through its curated algorithm that decides what users see and what they don’t, by harvesting data from user devices, or by breaching security and stealing critical information.
“All of these things are in the hands of a government that doesn’t share our values, and that has a mission that’s very much at odds with what’s in the best interests of the United States,” Wray said. “That should concern us.”
The chorus against TikTok has grown fast and loud, with at least 14 states banning the app from state-owned devices in the last several weeks, The New York Times reported, adding that Congress is expected to consider a bill this week that, if passed, would do the same for the federal government.
“This is a widespread concern at this point — it’s not just Republicans, it’s not just Democrats,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., who helped author a TikTok ban bill, told the outlet. “It’s going to get even louder over the next year … unless significant changes are made with regard to how TikTok is run in the United States and its ownership structure has adjusted.”
TikTok says the bans are an unnecessary “political gesture,” as the company is already developing plans to protect user privacy and security, a spokesperson told the Associated Press.
In that effort, TikTok is establishing a “Trust & Safety” team “to build further trust and confidence in the protection of U.S. user data and compliance,” TikTok announced in a Dec. 8 news release. “There’s no finish line when it comes to protecting people.
“We believe these changes will put us in a better position to tackle today’s challenges, prepare for next year’s threats, and ultimately keep bringing joy, entertainment, and connection to people around the world.”
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