How Abbott’s TikTok ban has impacted Dallas College Esports

Kaden Martin Staff Writer

When I first joined Dallas College Esports for League of Legends last fall, I was motivated to play on campus with my laptop to make sure I kept up with the team. Since Feb. 14, however, I have been unable to practice on campus. Richland Valorant is also impacted by the recent TikTok sanctions placed by Gov. Greg Abbott. The reason? Riot Games and TikTok are owned by Chinese companies Tencent and ByteDance, respectively.

ByteDance doesn’t really have a good track record when handling user data, which led to the ban on TikTok from Dallas College Wi-Fi and college owned devices. The TikTok ban has also impacted my ability to practice on campus when I have free time, which was an initial motivation for me to practice on campus. On Feb. 14, Sky McCort, my coach, issued a notice for my team that we would be practicing and playing from home. As a reporter, my first instinct was, “Why?”

I tried to open League of Legends, but it was refused due to “No internet connection,” which was untrue because my laptop was connected to the Richland Wi-Fi. I did further research and found out that it was a firewall rule added to the Dallas College server.

Robert C. Wendland, general counsel for Dallas College, stated that the college would assist the Esports program in resolving difficulties when practicing/competing on campus, but has not taken action yet.

A potential solution for our teams impacted would be purchasing an unrestricted computer server which would not only reduce stress on the current communications network from gaming, but would also allow for more bandwidth for students/employees of Dallas College on the current network. It would also lower the latency on campus for gaming from a dedicated PC on its own dedicated servers.

Aside from the solutions for esports that Dallas College could implement. You can currently circumvent the TikTok ban on your own cellular device on an LTE or 5G mobile phone network which makes Abbott’s TikTok ban redundant.

Current full-time students can join the program online at rlcsports.com or inperson at Thunderduck Hall. There is also intramural Esports with no time commitments for full and part-time students.

McCort adds that the program is non-discriminatory and inclusive for all students.

“All students from any walk of life are welcome in the program. We have some students on the spectrum, and we accept everyone as they are no matter what. We do keep it diverse and try to keep everyone happy, and everybody’s welcome.”