A collective of Texas professors has lodged a lawsuit against Governor Greg Abbott (R) for his ban on TikTok at public universities in the state. The professors argue that this ban violates the First Amendment and hampers their ability to conduct TikTok-related research. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University supports the professors’ claim and emphasizes that banning faculty from studying and teaching with TikTok is an impractical and unconstitutional response to concerns about data collection and disinformation. The Knight Institute filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, a nonprofit founded in 2022 to explore the societal impact of technology. Texas implemented the TikTok ban in December due to perceived security risks. However, the lawsuit argues that it is unconstitutional and significantly impedes college faculty from conducting research that would shed light on or combat the alleged data-collection and disinformation practices the ban seeks to address. The ban has already affected the research and teaching methods of associate professor Jacqueline Vickery at the University of North Texas. As of now, Governor Abbott’s office has not provided a comment in response to the lawsuit. The Knight Institute reports that at least 35 states have banned TikTok on state devices and networks, with Montana being the first state to ban it on personal devices throughout the entire state. The Knight Institute emphasizes that Texas’s TikTok ban infringes upon academic freedom and requests that the court affirm that less invasive measures could achieve the state’s objectives without shutting down a crucial avenue of teaching and research at public universities.
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