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Clemson University to ban TikTok on all campus networks
(www.foxcarolina.com)
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this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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IMHO, this isn't s good move. I don't have any love for TikTok but I hate fascism even more.
I’m not following. Can you elaborate a bit on how a private university banning TikTok is fascism?
Clemson isn't private, it's public. It is certainly their prerogative to secure their network and their users' data but there are definitely concerns over government censorship. I don't think this issue is as black and white as people ITT are making it out to be and absent a larger policy stance that would van TikTok or it's practices, I'm not sure this is the right move though I understand their position given the inaction of state and national legislatures in banning foreign spyware
They're not banning their students from using tiktok, they're blocking access to a website on their own networks. That is how network security works. I have many IP addresses block for many customers because some website shouldn't be accessed on networks with PII. It's really not that complicated.
I'm well aware - as a public university things are a bit different as they are agents of the state so this becomes a free speech issue. Also, if a university's student internet is the same network containing PII systems like their student records, there are much bigger problems. That's why I mentioned that this action without any legislation that would curtail Bytedance's data collection presents a student rights conundrum. The app does not (as far as we are aware) inject or capture information from the users network but rather the user themselves which they have consented to. The larger issue is whether or not the US should allow foreign entities to collect this info and that's not something the university should be able to decide but rather the state and federal regulatory agencies and legislatures
Is it also racist that China has banned Facebook and many other US based services?
It's not racist but it is terrible
I do think so.
It's weird to think that you would support banning TikTok because of the influence China might have on US Culture, but are totally cool with the fact that Facebook is a tool of cultural export across the whole globe. I don't remember the last time TikTok was the instrument of genocide, but hey, if you want to support that, go for it.
No one is talking about culture but you.
It's clearly not an infosec or opsec issue, so what else would it be?
That would be weird yes, luckily my opinions differ from the ones you're projecting onto me
Dude, some people just prefer longer form content. To each their own.
I never said that shortform content is bad or that tik tok should be banned. I just couldn't care less about the app because it just doesn't have anything in particular that interests me. If it did I would be using tik tok and not lemmy lol. The comment above just kinda rubbed me the wrong way i guess.
Then don't use TikTok? But also, TikTok does up to 10min videos? It's weird that your reaction is "Shortform content is bad and we should ban the app"
Oops, I think I just sent the response to myself lol. but yeah. Vine was entertaining. Tik tok just didn't click with me.
Lol how is it fascism if you could just use your mobile data to access whatever weird social network you want?
Because there is no real Operational Security justification for its ban, that doesn't instantly catch all US-based social media platforms as well. It's not about security, it's about control. The feds have no under-the-table deals or even overt surveillance partnerships with TikTok. They do have that with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and beyond. In fact, the CIA has financial stakes with those companies as well, and often were early sources of funding for them: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-media-is-a-tool-of-the-cia-seriously/
Which I guess is fine because the CIA has never been the enemy of the American people, ever.
So an American school doesn't block an American website that American intelligence agencies have access to and you're wondering why they wouldn't allow a Chinese website that Chinese intelligence agencies probably have access to? I completely agree that Meta and Twitter and all that are horrible for security but it's still relevant who houses that data. I choose not to use any of them but it's completely understandable why a country would hesitate to trust a foreign nation we have no relevant triety with.
The Chinese agencies have access to whatever data they want on you. There is no moratorium on data brokers doing business with China. Even if there were, they would get that data from one of their BRICS partners.
So they have data from TikTok. Now what? What's next? What's the threat they pose with that data to the American people or the students and faculty at this university?
What is the university protecting it's network from specifically?
The CIA has a long history of unlawfully monitoring and retaliating against US Citizens for advocating against US policy, like opposing the war in Vietnam.
From a historical standpoint, it would appear that citizens of the United States have more to fear from the CIA then they do from the People's Republic of China.
I think you'd be better off just saying censorship.
Ultimately though we've never seen anything like this, the old school rules for what constitutes acceptable censorship might need some adjusting (especially as society learns more about what closed source algorithms made by hostile foreign powers used by the youth -- and general population -- of a nation can actually do to said nation).
It would violate my constitutional right to performing dance trends in my dining hall.