Austin News

Governor Greg Abbott has announced a ban on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media applications linked to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on government-issued devices in Texas.

"Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps," stated Governor Abbott. "To achieve that mission, I ordered Texas state agencies to ban Chinese government-based AI and social media apps from all state-issued devices. State agencies and employees responsible for handling critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and personal information must be protected from malicious espionage operations by the Chinese Communist Party. Texas will continue to protect and defend our state from hostile foreign actors.”

The governor instructed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Department of Information Resources to include specific technologies on the state's prohibited list. This action prevents state employees and contractors from downloading or using these applications on both state-owned devices and personal devices used for work purposes. The banned applications are RedNote, DeepSeek, Webull, Tiger Brokers, Moomoo, and Lemon8.

Two months prior, Governor Abbott had issued directives aimed at protecting Texans from potential threats posed by PRC and CCP activities. These included strengthening security measures across state systems to safeguard critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and personal information; instructing DPS to target criminal activities related to CCP influence operations such as “Operation Fox Hunt”; preparing for potential threats against Texas’ critical infrastructure; and directing full divestment from China by Texas state agencies.

In 2022, a similar directive was made regarding TikTok usage on government-issued devices due to concerns over CCP access to sensitive U.S. information. A statewide model security plan was introduced in 2023 addressing vulnerabilities associated with TikTok usage on both personal and official devices. Additionally, Senate Bill 1893 was passed into law prohibiting TikTok along with other specified social media apps on government-issued equipment.