GOV. ABBOTT VS. THE CHINESE

Where Abbott said Chinese AI, social media apps were now banned 

 

by: Julianna Russ

 

KXAN 

Jan 31, 2025

 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbot

 

AUSTIN — On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned the use of artificial intelligence and social media apps that were affiliated with the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Communist Party—but only on government-issued devices.

According to Abbott, the ban now prohibits state employees and contractors from downloading and using the following apps on state-owned or personal devices used for work:

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

“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.”

In 2022, Abbott also ordered all Texas state agencies to ban TikTok on government-issued devices.