On Monday, Jan. 23, the University of Wyoming implemented a campus-wide ban of the TikTok app on all university networks and devices. The ban followed a directive that was issued by Governor Gordon, banning the app on all state-issued electronic devices and networks.
Gordon’s directive was issued on Dec. 15, 2022, and only applies to state-issued devices and networks; personal devices and networks are not affected by the restriction of the popular social media app.
“While we Imagine some students don’t like the decision, as a State of Wyoming agency, it is our responsibility to comply with the directive,” said Brett Williams, Director of UWYO Information Technology (IT),
“We do hope that students take this opportunity to re-evaluate their use of TikTok and other social media applications. Social media far too often invades one’s privacy and can potentially negatively affect a person’s well-being.”
The ban extends to all state issued cell phones, laptops, desktop computers, and tablets. The university required all employees to remove TikTok from any university-owned devices and blocked the app on all university networks to adhere to the new regulation.
“The university is aware of the ability to have “work-arounds” to bypass this policy. Students are free to use personal devices on a cellular connection as they see fit” said Williams,
“Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to purposely bypass any UW security measure is a possible violation of University Regulations and could place the student at risk of losing access to university computing resources. In addition, many VPN applications pose a privacy risk to the end user, so users should carefully consider the ramifications from VPN use.”
While many students live off-campus and generally use private networks to access the internet, students who live in on-campus dorms, sorority houses, and fraternity houses, will be the most affected by this new restriction, as they rely on university networks to access the internet if they are not able to use cellular data.
“I saw the email come in, and I was kind of surprised,” said Paige Lackey, a sophomore at UW. “I understand the ban, but I just feel bad for the people in the dorms.”
Students around campus seem to have mixed feelings about the ban, sympathizing with those who will be directly affected.
“I’m on the University of Wyoming 2026 Snapchat group, and it blew up on there. Everyone was like, ‘what do I do with my free time? My mobile data doesn’t work here.’ They were also talking about how they couldn’t post on the app” said Layne Johnson, a UW freshman who currently lives in the dorms,
“I don’t spend a lot of time in the dorms, so I don’t really care that much anyway because I use my mobile data. I wasn’t too concerned. Plus, I don’t post content on TikTok for anything yet, so it doesn’t hurt me that much.”
A concern that students seem to have is regarding the various TikTok accounts that many UW student groups manage. These accounts are generally used to promote organizations and pique the interests of students.
“I thought it was strange because the university has a TikTok page of its own, so I was a little brought back by that” said Johnson,
“I understand the ban, and I understand where they’re coming from. But if we look at it from a perspective of looking at all the social medias, there are information trackers. They know what you’re doing on all of them. They have personalized ads for everything, so they’re taking in all that data. It doesn’t really matter, and I personally don’t care.”
