The popular app TikTok is now banned on networks provided by most major Texas universities. The app was already banned on all state government-issued devices as of a month ago, which in turn, has sparked the new wave of bans.
At the beginning of this week, the University of Texas at Austin barred access to TikTok on its campus internet. The Texas A&M University System did so as well. Other schools include the University of North Texas in Denton and the University of Texas at Dallas.
The University of Houston has banned the app on university-owned devices, but it has not barred the app from being accessed on its wifi network.
TikTok allows users to share quick, mostly funny videos. It's used primarily by teens and young adults in their 20s and early 30s.
Governor Greg Abbott wants to ban the app because he says it poses a significant security threat from China.
In a tweet, Abbott claimed that the state universities "understand this is a bipartisan issue to keep the tentacles of China out of our universities and out of our state."
TikTok is owned and operated by the Chinese-based company, ByteDance Ltd, which the which the FBI claims is troublesome since it's suspected the Chinese government could use it to collect American users data.
United States lawmakers have proposed banning TikTok nationally, since several other states are also doing what Texas did.
President Biden gave the green light for a limited federal ban, when he signed the spending bill last year.
