Ippolito featured on WGME discussing TikTok bans on government devices
John Ippolito, professor of new media at the University of Maine, spoke to WGME-TV (Channel 13 in Portland) about Maine considering banning TikTok on government devices, as many other states have done. “It’s not really about spying; it’s really more about influence. … If we’re going to focus on TikTok as a problem, we really should be focusing on all kinds of social media companies and the use of an algorithm that can again splinter us into polarized factions or amplify bad habits and dangerous tendencies of its users is something that is common to multiple social media, not just TikTok,” Ippolito said.