Students, faculty and staff will no longer be able to use the social media platform on the UH network starting Jan. 3, system officials said in a recent letter to the campus community. The university had already banned employees from using the app on school-owned and operated devices, following a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022.
UH announced the latest changes after receiving further clarification about the directive, leading to a formal memorandum on prohibited tech at the university, school officials said. WeChat and several other apps are also not allowed, in keeping with the Texas Department of Institutional Resources.
Abbott's ban came amid fears that the Chinese government is harvesting customers' data. The governor had warned that TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that is required to comply with any potential requests from its government to hand over data.
Texas university officials quickly responded to the directive in 2022, removing TikTok from government-issued devices, including cellphones, laptops, tablets and desktop computers. Public university employees were included under the order, meaning professors who create viral instructional TikTok posts, sports programs and admissions offices can't use the platform.
At the time, few devices across the UH System were found to have TikTok installed. In a scan of 15,000 devices across the system's four universities, only six devices needed to delete the app, spokesperson Shawn Lindsey said in 2022.
The latest instructions from the university clear up any confusion as to whether students and employees could access TikTok on their personal devices. Students and employees can use their personal devices and personal data plans to use TikTok, but they cannot connect the device to the university network at all if it contains prohibited technology, university officials said.
Employees also can't conduct university business on a personal device containing the TikTok app. They must remove the app before using the device for university business, according to the university.
The TikTok ban was not the last of Abbott's directives relating to China. Last month, he told Texas state agencies, which include public universities, to divest from "risky investments" originating from the country.
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