Recently, everyone's feed has been flooded with the news that Texas A&M University (TAMU) is banning TikTok and WeChat. What's up with U.S. universities causing trouble again?
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TAMU Bans TikTok and WeChat
It's said that the Texas Governor's Office of General Counsel (OOG) issued a directive: all Texas government-related agencies (including public universities) will be prohibited from using and accessing apps like WeChat, TikTok, and Alipay; any already installed will be automatically uninstalled. Moreover, personal devices will not be able to use these apps through the campus network.
This list of banned apps really catches the three giants Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance in one swoop, and even CamScanner isn't spared.
TAMU's TikTok account with 1.5 million followers is pretty much done for.
Currently, the school's official TikTok page says: "We no longer use TikTok, follow us on YouTube!"
Well, it's really like going back to square one overnight, everyone has to stick with YouTube 😂
After all, public universities are government-sponsored, and when orders come from above, they can only comply.
Not only are the 11 campuses of TAMU affected, but also UT Austin, Texas Tech, the University of Houston, and other Texas public universities have banned TikTok.
The study abroad community is in an uproar. Some TAMU students have already said they can't access WeChat using school Wi-Fi 👇
Looking closely at the policy, currently it should only affect school public devices and campus networks; using your own device with cellular data should still work. So some netizens dismiss it 👇
But we're afraid this could be a boiling frog situation. Today it's just public devices, but what if it becomes a full ban tomorrow? Will we have to contact home using a message in a bottle?
Some netizens revealed that within the UT system, as long as you log in to a school account, even using your own phone and network, you cannot use apps on the banned list.
Netizens commented: This is a bit absurd, paying tens of thousands in tuition each year, yet you can't use the communication app you commonly use ❓
Why Is Texas Always Stirring Up Trouble?
Texas, being Trump's stronghold, truly comes up with new antics every day.
Last December, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a TikTok ban: prohibiting state government officials and employees from downloading or using TikTok on public electronic devices, including phones, tablets, and computers. The rhetoric was quite aggressive.
According to the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) "blacklist," not only WeChat, Douyin, Alipay, QQ Wallet, etc. are banned, but hardware devices like Huawei, DJI, Hikvision, and ZTE are also on the prohibited list.
Texas is really good at stirring trouble. Earlier this year, Governor Greg Abbott tweeted: The Texas legislature has submitted a bill that would ban citizens, governments, and entities from China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia from purchasing land in Texas. He said he would sign it.
Does that mean Chinese people won't be able to buy property in Texas?
Even more absurd is the top comment under that tweet:
"What about the 100,000 acres they've already bought?"
"Of course, force them to sell."
Classic redneck behavior; reading this is actually frightening. Nothing more to say, just get out while you can.
Tesla already fled back to California. With Texas's policies like this, even sponsoring H1B and green cards for employees will be difficult 😓
TikTok on the Blacklist of 26 U.S. Universities
The Texas public university system isn't the only one banning TikTok; universities across the U.S. have received notices from above.
Currently, 30 U.S. states have banned government employees from using TikTok on public devices. Since the end of last year, TikTok bans have gradually expanded from state governments to schools.
For example, the University of Florida, Iowa public universities, UT Austin, the Texas Tech University System, and more than 26 U.S. colleges and universities have announced bans on TikTok through school devices and campus networks, and have advised students to uninstall it from their phones.
Auburn University
In December, the Alabama state government officially announced a ban on using TikTok through public devices and networks. Auburn University has begun implementation and advises students to uninstall TikTok.
University of Florida
The University of Florida recommends that faculty and students uninstall TikTok; currently, there is no mandatory plan.
University System of Georgia
The University System of Georgia will ban WeChat and TikTok on school devices.
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa have removed TikTok from school devices and banned official school TikTok accounts.
Morgan State University
According to Maryland's ban, Morgan State University prohibits TikTok, QQ, Alipay, etc., on school devices and networks, though students and faculty can still use them on personal devices.
For the full list of schools, see:
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tiktok-bans-public-universities-list-rcna66185
Not only these red states, but even states friendlier to international students and immigrants like California, New York, and Massachusetts have related state government bans in the proposal stage.
Why Is TikTok Being Banned?
TikTok is now the hottest social media platform in the U.S., with 80 million monthly active users, 60% of whom are young people aged 16-24. For Generation Z in particular, TikTok is a daily necessity.
So why is TikTok being banned?
The high-road answer: "TikTok threatens our children's privacy and mental health."
The blunt answer: "It's Chinese software and poses a cybersecurity threat to us."
Tracing back to its roots, this is an old issue left over from the Trump administration.
In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promoted the "Clean Network" initiative, asserting that "all software and hardware from China threaten U.S. national security and must be completely decoupled from the United States."
Trump issued two executive orders claiming that TikTok and WeChat pose a threat to the United States.
Trump's unhinged rhetoric fizzled out then, but late last year the Biden administration picked it back up.
In December last year, Biden signed a bill that would ban TikTok on all U.S. government devices.
Now that fire has spread to government-sponsored public universities.
Even American students themselves are speechless: What kind of freedom is this? Our happy place has been taken away.
Whether it's the enrollment cuts at California's UC schools or the app bans at Midwest universities, it's all essentially U.S. government intervention in public universities.
Behind the software bans, it ultimately comes down to great power rivalry.
When titans clash, the ones who suffer the most are the international students caught in the middle.
We hope that the overseas Chinese community can be treated equally, though this road will remain long and arduous.
