LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has blocked the use of Chinese-based platforms DeepSeek, RedNote and Lemon8 on executive branch devices.
“My administration is taking the appropriate steps to ensure Arkansans are protected from the Chinese Communist Party,” said Gov. Sanders. “China is only looking to advance their country’s interest by accessing highly sensitive information and that will not be tolerated in Arkansas state government.”
This announcement comes after Gov. Sanders announced the China Legislative Defense Package last month, which aims to strip state resources from the Chinese Communist Party and ban the purchasing of land around critical infrastructure such as military bases and electric substations by “foreign adversaries.”
“The Arkansas state cyber office has initiated network blocks on social media services that include DeepSeek, RedNote and Lemon8. These applications developed by Chinese companies have raised concerns about data privacy and the risk of unauthorized access to critical infrastructure. The primary objective in blocking access to these applications is to protect critical infrastructure and sensitive information from potential espionage or unauthorized data access by foreign entities, particularly the Chinese Communist Party,” said Chief Information Officer Gary Vance.
