University of Oklahoma Bans TikTok From Devices After Governor’s Order Barring App Over National Security Risks

The University of Oklahoma is banning employees and students from using the Chinese-owned app TikTok on university devices and networks.

All university-administered TikTok accounts will also be deleted and replaced with alternate social media platforms, according to a Dec. 20 brief addressed to University of Oklahoma students and employees which was shared on Twitter by local reporter Storme Jones.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt an executive order (pdf) on Dec. 8., which banned state executive branch employees and state agencies from downloading or using the app on state-issued devices or networks. The order also banned the download or use of the app on state-leased equipment used by contractors, boards, commissions, or other agents of the state.

The university’s briefing said that the ban was made in compliance with the executive order, which cited issues of national security related to TikTok’s mass collection of user data and connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which rules China as a single-party state.

Growing Push

The move is just the latest in a growing push among primarily Republican state leaders to ban TikTok.

Indeed, Oklahoma is one of at least 14 states that have banned TikTok from being used on government devices. Others include Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.

Congress also introduced bipartisan legislation this week which would issue a similar ban for executive branch employees in the federal government. That legislation, the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act,” was included in Congress’ $1.65 trillion omnibus bill, and received widespread acceptance after getting support from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi late last week. The Senate is aiming to pass the bill on Wednesday evening, allowing it to move to the House on Thursday, before a Friday deadline when government funding runs out.

The Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and State already enforce such bans.

Former President Donald Trump attempted to issue a ban on TikTok in 2020. The move was undone by President Joe Biden, however, who instead ordered the Commerce Department to evaluate the platform for potential national security risks. A federal panel, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, is currently undertaking a security review of TikTok, though it is unknown when the probe will be finalized.

Data Security Risks

Lawmakers, national intelligence leaders, and security experts have long warned that TikTok presents a unique threat to the national security of the United States due to its relationship with the CCP through parent company ByteDance.

TikTok executives previously admitted to censoring content at the request of the CCP, including suppressing videos critical of the regime’s human rights abuses. Similarly, the company admitted earlier this year (pdf) that employees in China were given access to American users’ data. According to officials and experts, this then allows the Chinese regime to access such data in accordance with CCP laws that compel companies to turn over information to security agencies when asked.

For its part, TikTok has maintained that the app is safe for Americans. It says that U.S. user data is stored on servers in the United States, and that it has not and will never pass on American user data to the Chinese regime.

The scope of data collected by the app is immense, and includes facial recognition patterns, typing behaviors, information the user has copied to their digital clipboard, and everything the user types into the in-app browser, including passwords and bank information.

Speaking at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in November, FBI Director Christopher Wray said the app could be used to collect data on Americans for the CCP and to conduct untold numbers of influence operations.

“The Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose, or to control software on millions of devices which gives it opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices,” Wray said.

The Epoch Times has reached out to TikTok for comment.