Montana universities poised to ban TikTok, following national trend

Montana universities are contemplating banning the use of social media platform TikTok on university-owned devices, according to Missoulian. Gov. Greg Gianforte has already banned the usage of TikTok on state-owned devices in Montana. 

Students at the universities would still be able to access TikTok from their personal devices, but whether or not students can access TikTok on a personal device while connected to university-owned WiFi is still up for debate. 

[RELATED: Iowa State bans TikTok]

In a memo explaining his reasoning for the state-wide ban last December, Governor Gianforte explained that TikTok “harvests expansive amounts of data from its users’ devices, much of which is unrelated to the app’s purported objective of video sharing, and offers this information to the Chinese Communist Party.”

Missoulian reports that the Montana Commissioner of Higher Education already informed the Board of Regents that a team has been put together to discuss the details of the TikTok Ban. 

[RELATED: University pays TikTok star $60K, conservative groups reportedly denied funding]

Montana universities would join institutions of higher education in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Oklahoma, and Texas in banning TikTok, should they move forward with the plan.

Jamal Brown, a TikTok Communications employee, previously told Campus Reform, “We’re disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok.”

Montana Board of Regents, TikTok, the Montana University system, and the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education have not responded to additional comments requested by Campus Reform.