Dallas students, teachers and visitors can no longer access TikTok from school district devices and networks.
In a Friday letter to families, chief of school leadership Tiffany Huitt said the move is in response to cybersecurity concerns.
“Experts believe the cybersecurity risk stems from the belief that TikTok’s parent company tracks data from users — including when, where and how a person uses the internet — that could be used to share sensitive information and ultimately harm our IT infrastructure,” she wrote.
Earlier this month, several Texas universities also announced the popular app was banned on their campus Wi-Fi networks. Late last year, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to ban employees from downloading or using TikTok on any government-issued devices, joining a growing number of states.
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Several federal agencies also prohibit the use of TikTok on their devices, including the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.
TikTok spokesperson Jamal Brown responded to the universities’ moves saying app officials worry about the impact these policies could have, such as limiting schools’ ability to share information, recruit students and build communities.
“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,” Brown said at the time.
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