UW System restricting social media app TikTok on system devices

The University of Wisconsin System will restrict the use of social media app TikTok on system devices.

UW System spokesperson Mark Pitsch told WPR in an email the application will be restricted on “system-owned” devices. He didn’t elaborate on how the restrictions would work across the state’s 13 universities or when they’ll go into effect.

Schools like UW-Madison, UW-Eau Claire and UW-Green Bay have TikTok accounts featuring short videos of students and campus events. As of 3 p.m. all content on UW-Madison’s account had been removed.

On Jan. 6, Gov. Tony Evers said Wisconsin would join the federal government and other states in banning the popular social media site on government devices. That order didn’t apply to the UW System according to Evers’ executive order.

Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin and elsewhere have accused TikTok of being a surveillance tool for the Chinese Communist Party.

In a letter to Evers sent Dec. 6, 2022, GOP members of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation said TikTok tracks cell phone users’ location data and keystrokes even when the app isn’t being used.

“The CCP can thus collect sensitive intelligence on Wisconsin government employees and even blackmail or pressure them based on this information,” the letter states.