As most students of the university know by now, Florida State officially banned access to TikTok on April 3. So, what does that mean?
Basically, the school is banning the use of it on university-owned devices and blocking access to it via Wi-Fi networks. Additionally, registered FSU student organizations have been asked to temporarily deactivate any TikTok accounts associated with them. But why? The official reason is to better ensure our digital security as the app, and several others mentioned in the e-mail, pose a potential threat to it. This is particularly due to foreign governments using the app to gather biometric data, faceprints and voiceprints. These concerns are valid given the advances we’ve seen in AI and what the wrong people can do without your information, but does it mean the drastic ban on the app altogether is right?
This ban follows the introduction of U.S. Senate Bill 686 otherwise known as the RESTRICT Act. It not only includes the banning of TikTok, but it would also give the government access to our digital devices and networks including home cameras. This act also potentially poses a threat to our right to privacy and gives the government a lot more control over our everyday lives than most of us may be comfortable with.
With that being said, why not ban Twitter? This social media app also collects information on its users and was fined over $150 million in 2022 after it allegedly broke its privacy policy. Or Facebook? It had a $5 billion penalty imposed on them by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and a series of new privacy regulations in 2019 due to privacy issues. Also, what about Instagram? According to Cybernews, it’s sharing almost eighty percent of your personal information with third parties.
What makes the threat that TikTok poses to its users’ privacy and personal information more valid than that of other major social media apps that are still allowed on campus? The answer may lie in the fact that the owners of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are all American citizens, while the majority ownership of TikTok is found in a Chinese company called ByteDance. Despite this, many could argue that just because the owners of Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are American, it hasn’t stopped them from being a danger to American society.
It was just in 2018 when Facebook had its infamous Whistleblower scandal where a former data engineer, Frances Haugen, revealed the company’s malpractice which includes the spread of misinformation and the promotion of extremist views. Not only that, but “the company intentionally hides vital information from the public, from the U.S. government, and from governments around the world.”
However, there were no pushes by state officials to ban Facebook for enabling dangerous mentalities or withholding valuable information from its users. Major American social media apps have played a role in the spread of our data without our consent by violating their own privacy policies, but we’ve never seen a bill like this arise toward them. Nor have we ever seen it taken to the point of being banned in a growing number of public universities like what we see now with TikTok.
Also, why now? Where were these concerns in 2020 when the app first gained widespread popularity?
Senate Bill 686’s recent introduction has begun a larger conversation about technology threats. Florida State’s actions may show its favor for the bill, but the issue of banning TikTok is not necessarily partisan. Republican senator Rand Paul argued against a nationwide ban, citing our first amendment rights. The university may not have banned the app if not for the current debate in our Senate, though the discussion is far from over. The RESTRICT Act and the move to protect our personal information continue to be full of complexity, and Florida State’s TikTok ban is just one piece of that.
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