The University of Virginia joined the growing list of universities banning certain social media apps from connecting to school networks.
An email was sent out on Friday notifying UVA’s community. All UVA employees, agents and contractors, non-student users, and the university IT specialists are disallowed from accessing, downloading, or using any applications or websites developed by ByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd.
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The newly banned apps at UVA include TikTok, WeChat, Helo, Lark, and Inked.
Any university employee not complying with the app ban will face “disciplinary action.”
The push to delete the apps is in accordance with Virginia law.
“We are taking this step today to secure state government devices and wireless networks from the threat of infiltration and ensure that we safeguard the data and cybersecurity of state government,” Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) said of the new ban.
The updated UVA IT policy includes any employee device, including personal devices with access to the university’s wireless internet.
The University of Virginia is among many public universities recently restricting access to Chinese-owned apps on school computers, mobile phones, and Wi-Fi.
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Auburn University, Clemson University, Arkansas State University, the University of Florida, the University System of Georgia, Boise State University, the University of Idaho, Northeastern State University, and the Montana University System are among the many universities recently making the decision to require the apps be blocked from their system’s networks.
Universities have long been the targets of espionage and are vulnerable to IT attacks. According to a cybersecurity firm iDefense and security vendor FireEye, in 2019, research found that Chinese hackers have targeted 27 U.S. universities to gather intelligence on sensitive U.S. Navy data.
