TikTok Could Be Banned At Colleges In Shreveport and Baton Rouge

When college kids head to campuses around Louisiana this fall, it could be a totally different social media landscape. One without TikTok.

This week, the Louisiana House is scheduled to debate House Bill 361, which would ban TikTok from computers and networks owned or lease by the State of Louisiana. That means college campuses would be included...and their WiFi networks.

The bill is sponsored by Marksville Republican Daryl Deshotel, and is based on warnings put forward by the FBI. Last year, FBI Director Chris Wray warned that the influence China has over the company behind TikTok, and their ability to use mobile devices in America to obtain sensitive data. Wray told the US Senate Intelligence Committee:

“This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government, and… it screams out with national security concerns” 

This bill has quickly moved through the Louisiana legislature without much pushback. It flew through both the House Appropriations Committee the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. Next is the House vote, which will probably be an easy pass as well.

If it passes the Louisiana House, it would be onto the Senate. If it wins passage there, the final stop would be Governor John Bel Edwards' desk.

This all means that by the fall, students at LSU-Baton Rouge, LSU-Shreveport, Grambling State, Northwestern State, Louisiana Tech, LSUHSC-Shreveport, and all other state affiliated schools could return to a TikTok free campus. Now, that doesn't mean you'll be in trouble if you use your own cellular data to access TikTok on campus. It just means it will be blocked on their network.