University TikTok Bans: The Rise of Workarounds
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
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The number of TikTok bans across the country is growing, with 19 public universities instituting prohibitions on the Chinese-owned app in the last several months. But to even call it a “ban” is a bit overzealous.
Take Leon Ondieki, for instance. The senior at University of Georgia was quick to figure out a way to access TikTok after Georgia’s system of 26 public colleges instituted a ban on the app last December. Ondieki told Insider he obtained a Mercedes Sprinter van equipped with a hotspot from SpaceX’s Starlink internet service to turn into a “mobile workstation.” This way, they can edit and create content from anywhere, including on campus.
Of course, not every student has access to a Mercedes Sprinter van equipped with a hotspot from SpaceX’s Starlink. But other students have taken to social media to share insights into their campus bans as well as tips for how to get around them.
In a recent thread, redditors pointed out the holes in the University of Texas’ campus-wide TikTok ban. “Don’t people just use their phone’s 5G data,” one commenter asked. Another noted that “if they want to use TikTok they can just turn off their Wi-Fi and use cellular data instead.”
It is possible that not everyone has unlimited data, and in that case, they’re liable to be stuck with campus WiFi. But as another Reddit user suggested, it’s not hard to find a relatively cheap unlimited data plan these days: “I have unlimited 5G and pay $25/month. Data caps are a thing of the past unless you’re on an old plan,” they said, adding that their plan is through Verizon.
Other people on Reddit noted that using a VPN (virtual private network) is another way to slip past the bans. The method simply reroutes traffic through different IP addresses and therefore masks the user’s location.
All of these workarounds explain why these bans won’t stick as long as the internet and data providers themselves aren’t participating. “Because these bans haven't hit the providers yet, universities can only ban it on official networks you're connected to,” wrote another Redditor “don't out hack them, just unplug.”
Overall, the general consensus from students is that schools are overstepping their authority with the bans. One Reddit user, who admitted to being a longtime TikTok skeptic, compared the issue of not being able to access TikTok on dorm WiFi to censorship on a broader level, and asked, “What would you think of your ISP [internet service provider] restricting certain websites on your home network?”
Which is a perfectly valid question. And one that more school officials will likely have to answer to, if the number of university TikTok bans continue to escalate.
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Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
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