Effective immediately, the University of North Florida has banned anyone on campus Wi-Fi from using TikTok, according to a university-wide email late Wednesday afternoon. 

The ban also applies to Tencent QQ, WeChat, VKontakte and Kaspersky and will prohibit their installation or use on any university-owned device or network. 

Any university business with those apps, including marketing and advertising, has also been banned, according to the email. 

“These apps and technologies have been identified as having a significant security risk on personal data and infrastructure,” the university-wide email said. 

The ban won’t restrict anyone from having those apps on their personal devices; they just won’t be able to use university Wi-Fi to access them. However, that doesn’t remain the case for any university-owned devices. 

“If you have installed any of these prohibited technologies on a university-owned mobile device or computer, you are required to remove it and cease using it,” the email read. 

The ban is to keep UNF and other universities compliant with the Florida Board of Governors’ new emergency regulation, which was approved last Wednesday, March 29. 

That regulation bans using any programs on the SUS Prohibited Technologies List, which lists software, applications and developers that pose a cybersecurity risk. 

“UNF Information Technology Services (ITS) is constantly working to protect our cyber infrastructure, but everyone in the UNF community needs to be vigilant against potential threats,” the emailed statement said. “Technologies will continue to be monitored to evaluate potential risks, and the University will make the necessary changes to safeguard the campus community’s assets and privacy.”

UNF’s ban comes on the heels of similar ones at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida Wednesday afternoon, Florida State University on Tuesday and Florida A&M University in mid-March. 

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