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Pennsylvania School District Blocks Popular Social Media

Centennial School District said it is blocking students of all ages from accessing the top social media networks, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Omegle, Snapchat, Tiktok and WhatsApp.

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(TNS) — Centennial School District is blocking access to popular social media sites, music and streaming services on school computers and internet servers.

On Friday, the district released a four-page list of blocked apps and websites.

Centennial said it blocks students of all ages from accessing the social media networks Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Omegle, Snapchat, Tiktok and WhatsApp.

The district said it also blocks all students from accessing the music and video streaming services Disney+, Hulu and Netflix.

The music streaming services Soundcloud and Spotify were blocked only for middle school students, district records showed.

Two video streaming websites — Twitch and Xfinity — were blocked only for middle and high school students, records show.

All users were also blocked from visiting the gaming sites Drifted, DDDance Party, Flash Games Only, Fortnite, Mario Combat, Play Bullet Force, Total Jerk Face, CS Online, Crazy Games, Agario Modded, Run 3 Free, ZombsRoyale, officials said.

Records were released to this news organization after an appeal was filed with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records. The records were requested as part of a story on how districts monitor and control online activity as schools around the country are under constant threat of cyberattack.

Since 2016, the National School Boards Association reports more than 700 cybersecurity "incidents" in public schools.

©2020 Bucks County Courier Times, Levittown, Pa. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.