Students, faculty and staff received an email from Pamela McCabe, coordinator of university communications and media relations, today about certain social media, websites and technologies being blocked on campus Wi-Fi. 

On March 29, the Florida Board of Governors approved an emergency amendment to Regulation 3.0075. According to the email, this regulation “prevents university-owned networks and devices from being able to access websites and social media platforms that pose state and national cybersecurity concerns.”

The email also states the “high-risk platforms” that are identified in the State University System Prohibited Technologies List which includes, Kaspersky, VKontakte, Tencent QQ, TikTok and WeChat. 

“I think it’s slightly ridiculous,” senior Neil Nestor said. “I understand why they did it but I don’t agree with it. I know that they’re trying to protect the interests of the government but I fail to see how this involves students.”

Effective today, this regulation impacts personal devices which will not be able to access prohibited services/technologies while connected to FGCU’s network. This includes campus housing Wi-Fi and wired networks.

All university-owned devices are blocked from accessing these services/technologies as well. 

“FGCU is taking these steps as part of our ongoing commitment to protecting student data, intellectual property and university systems,” the email said.