AUSTIN — On Friday January 31, 2025 Governor Greg Abbott issued a ban prohibiting the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media apps affiliated with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) on government-issued devices.

“Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps,” said 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.”

Governor Abbott also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Department of Information Resources to add the following technologies to the state’s prohibited technologies list, which prohibits state employees and contractors from downloading and using these apps on state-owned or personal devices used for work:

• RedNote
• DeepSeek
• Webull
• Tiger Brokers
• Moomoo
• Lemon8

Two months ago, Governor Abbott issued four directives to Texas state agencies to protect Texans from the PRC and the CCP:

• Directing all state agencies and public institutions of higher education to harden state systems and safeguard critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and personal information from being accessed
• Directing DPS to target and arrest any criminals executing CCP influence operations like “Operation Fox Hunt” to forcibly return dissidents to China
• Directing the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Public Utility Commission of Texas to prepare for potential threats against Texas’ critical infrastructure
• Directing Texas state agencies to fully divest from China

In 2022, Governor Abbott ordered all Texas state agencies to ban the use of TikTok on any government-issued devices to protect against the growing threat of the Chinese Communist Party gaining access to critical U.S. information and infrastructure. The Governor also announced a statewide model security plan in 2023 for Texas state agencies to address vulnerabilities presented by the use of TikTok and other software on personal and state-issued devices. Additionally, the Texas Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law Senate Bill 1893 prohibiting the use of TikTok and other covered social media apps on government-issued devices.