– TikTok takes up a lot of time in everyday life, but it’s also a lot of fun. I find a lot of inspiration there, says Susanna Hågan. She is a student at the University of Agder (UiA), which earlier this week decided that employees at the school are not allowed to have TikTok or the chat program Telegram on their phones as long as they also have UiA’s applications (Teams, OneDrive, e-mail) on them. The background to the ban is advice from the security authorities that public servants should not download TikTok or Telegram on their company mobiles or other work devices. Like most other universities and colleges, UiA has chosen to follow the recommendations. Professor Øysten Sæbø at UiA says the decision is a rather powerful intervention in how employees use their mobile phones. – It probably came as a bit of a surprise to several. Because it has long been the case that the distinction between private and work use of the mobile phone has disappeared. Now it becomes a little more visible, says Sæbø, who works at the Institute for Information Systems. Professor and IT specialist Øyvind Sæbø at UiA says the new rules seem like a fairly simplified solution to a larger and more complicated problem. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news TikTok is Chinese and the intelligence service points to Russia and China as the main threat actors against Norwegian security interests. – They also point out that social media is a favorable arena for threat actors and others who want to influence us through disinformation and fake news, said Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) last week. Has own TikTok account Sæbø says the university has 13,000 students and that many of these use TikTok on the same network anyway. – The new rules seem like a rather simplified solution to a larger and more complicated problem. At the same time, Sæbø believes that the new rules will start a good discussion about how we use mobile phones and share private information on different platforms. – It is a good thing that more people are opening their eyes to the fact that this is a problem we need to discuss. Sæbø also points out that the university has its own TikTok account which students are encouraged to follow. – So it is not entirely consistent or complete how this works, he says. Must find the balance Director of Communications at UiA Øivind Dagsvik Eskedal admits that this is a bit two-sided. – We have to find a way to balance this. When we are going to be on TikTok in the future, it will be on our own phones that are not connected to UiA’s systems, he says. Eskedal says they do not encourage students to have TikTok, but know that many do. – Then it is our job to be present on these channels, but after the new advice came, we update our risk and vulnerability analysis when it comes to our own use. He states that it is voluntary for employees if they wish to have UiA systems on their phones. – They have access to e-mail and Teams on their PCs, so it is completely unproblematic. Oslo Met recommends that students who have access to the university’s internal digital systems from their private devices delete TikTok and Telegram. That’s what Khrono writes. The universities of Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim, along with UiA, have not chosen to recommend that students delete the apps. Director of Communications at UiA Øivind Dagsvik Eskedal says cyber security is becoming an ever greater challenge. Photo: University of Agder Getting tips before school starts Students Marthe Vik and Susanna Hågan think it’s a little strange that the teachers can’t have their own TikTok account when the university has one. – But it’s nice to have a separate account for UiA because then you can be inspired to go here. You get lots of tips before school starts and different ways and methods you can study, says Vik. The two spend a lot of time on TikTok. – Nowadays, we are used to being entertained. TikTok takes up a lot of time in everyday life. The algorithm absolutely finds what we want to look at, says Hågan. – Would you consider deleting the app? – Yes, I want to try to delete it to see if I can do it. It would have been fun, says Hågan and laughs. The student teachers Isabelle Haltorp (tv), Helene Thorsen, Marthe Vik and Susanna Hågan are all students at UiA and spend a lot of time on TikTok. Photo: Anna Rut Tørressen / news
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TikTok ban for employees at universities and colleges – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
