AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday announced a ban on the use of AI and social media apps affiliated with the Chinese government on all Texas state-issued devices.
The ban, said to protect the state’s infrastructure, intellectual property, and sensitive information from foreign threats, takes immediate effect.
“Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps,” Abbott said.
The ban targets apps like RedNote, Webull, Tiger Brokers, Lemon8, and Moomoo, which state employees are now prohibited from using on both state and personal devices used for work.
This action follows earlier measures introduced by Abbott two months ago, which focused on hardening state systems, targeting CCP influence operations, and addressing vulnerabilities.
This latest move also builds on previous steps, such as the 2022 ban on TikTok and the 2023 legislative action prohibiting certain apps on government devices.
The Texas governor will further lay out his 2025 agenda during his biennial State of the State address Sunday.
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