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University professors in Texas are suing the state over ‘unconstitutional’ TikTok ban
(www.engadget.com)
this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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The prohibition is not on speech. It's on installing a specific piece of software on government-issued devices, when the government has determined that software is a security & privacy threat.
The professors could legally use a third-party client app (if one exists) to connect to the service.
This is literally preventing some profs from doing their jobs properly. There has to be a way to sandbox it to negate the threat while still allowing academic research and teaching.
The ban says they can't install the TikTok app on government-provided devices. I don't see why they can't have the TikTok app on their personal devices. Or if they have to visit it on a government device, why can't they use the web interface.
The ban is on devices and networks, so even if they bring their personal devices to campus or want to use the web that's a no-go.
Eh, no reason they can't use their own data, though. To me, it's not much different than the restrictions from most companies have, where you're not supposed to use company resources for personal business.
They can’t have the university expense a $300 Android device + a vpn to access TikTok? This solves, not having to use a government issued device that access government’s resources and networks, and being protected by using a vpn to create an onion route and preventing potential phone home.
If they cannot work around this, then I legitimately question the quality of “research” they would be conducting here.
There are 3rd party tik tok apps?
I'm not familiar with what apps might be available, nor can I be arsed to look. I'd phrase it more like "other ways of accessing TikTok", in which case the obvious answer is yes, starting with Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, etc, etc, etc.
If you converted the source code of the tiktok app into a book, and said having that book as a PDF on those devices was prohibited, it would be a violation of freedom of speech, no?
So why should it being a PDF or not matter? Bernstein v. US held that software code is protected under the 1st amendment. https://www.eff.org/cases/bernstein-v-us-dept-justice
The Bernstein case referred to publishing software source code, which is human-readable and does not come with permissions requirements. A compiled app, coupled with specific permissions requirements for tracking, doesn't fit the fact pattern of the Bernstein case.
Ok maybe I’m misunderstanding the ban but the book isn’t transmitting data is it?
I thought the TikTok ban was based on who has access to the data, not that the data exists.
I’m pretty certain transcribing confidential information into a book and calling it free speech wouldn’t circumvent the laws restricting access to that info.
First you need to have the source code
It's some silly videos, who determined it a threat?
The American government.
The claim seems to be that it's not the videos; it's the installing a piece of software that grants a foreign dictatorship access to monitor Texas government employees.
It appears that the TikTok service currently requires, as a term of service, that the user consent to be monitored and tracked by a corporation ultimately controlled by the China government. That is something that the state of Texas and the US government appear to believe they have good reason to prevent on devices used for work by government employees.
In any event, it's very much not clear that "you may not install this specific piece of software on a government device" is a speech restriction.
I've been telling everything that Google and META are threats but nobody listens to me.
Oh, you were referring to TikTok.
who determined that it's merely 'some silly videos'?