A First Amendment group sued Texas Governor Greg Abbott and others over bans of TikTok on official devices, arguing the prohibition – which extends to public universities – is unconstitutional and impedes academic freedom.

The complaint was filed by The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, a free speech group in New York that’s suing on behalf a coalition of academics and researchers who study technology’s impact on society.

The lawsuit said the state’s decision to restrict access to TikTok on official devices, as well as on personal devices used to conduct state business, is comprising teaching and research. And more specifically, it said it was “seriously impeding” faculty pursuing research into the app – including research that could illuminate or counter concerns about TikTok.

Critics of TikTok have claimed the social media app, owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, could push pro-Beijing propaganda on its platform or hand U.S. user data over to the Chinese government.

TikTok has long maintained it hasn’t handed over any U.S. data to the Chinese government and says it wouldn’t do so if asked.

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to just under 7%, the highest level since November and the latest setback for homebuyers already grappling with a tough housing market constrained by a dearth of homes for sale.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 6.96% from 6.81% last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.51%.

It’s the third consecutive week of higher rates, lifting the average rate to its highest level since it surged to 7.08% in early November.