(The Center Square) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday issued a proclamation banning 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,” Abbott said. “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.”
He also ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and Department of Information Resources to add six technologies to Texas’ prohibited technologies list. The list prohibits state employees and contractors from downloading and using the apps on state-owned or personal devices used for work. They include RedNote, DeepSeek, Webull, Tiger Brokers, Moomoo and Lemon8.
The directive comes three years after Abbott first directed all state agencies to ban the use of TikTok on any government-issued devices in 2022. One year later, in 2023, Abbott launched a statewide model security plan for state agencies to address vulnerabilities posed by TikTok and other software installed on personal and state-issued devices.
In 2023, the Texas Legislature also passed a bill, which Abbott signed into law, prohibiting state employees from downloading or using TikTok on any government-issued devices.
Last year, Congress passed the protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which made it unlawful to distribute TikTok unless the U.S. operation of the platform was severed from its Chinese owner by Jan. 19, 2025. The law was challenged and went to the Supreme Court, which upheld it. President Donald Trump temporarily lifted the ban indicating he was working on a deal for U.S. companies to purchase it.
Prior to TikTok shutting down, it began promoting alternative apps like RedNote and Lemon8. RedNote, in Mandarain, refers to the former CCP Chair Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book,” and is owned by Xingyin Information Technology, a PRC-based company.
Lemon8, like TikTok, is also owned by ByteDance Limited, a PRC-based company.
Both apps allow users to post photos and video content and collect their data, which is used by PRC intelligence gathering.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a 2017 PRC national intelligence law “compels all companies located in the PRC to support, assist and cooperate with PRC intelligence services, and legally obligates those entities to turn over data collected domestically or abroad to the PRC upon request,” Abbott’s order says.
This includes RedNote and Lemon8, which both “pose a security risk to Texas,” Abbott said.
Ahead of the current legislative session, Abbott issued four executive orders related to China, The Center Square reported.
One directed DPS troopers to arrest anyone implementing CCP influence operations like “Operation Fox Hunt,” an initiative of the PRC to forcibly return people to China that it’s identified as so-called dissidents living in the U.S., The Center Square reported.
The second directed the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Public Utility Commission to prepare for potential threats against Texas’ critical infrastructure from a hostile foreign government or its proxies, including the CCP and PRC.
The third directed state agencies to divest from investments originating from China.
The fourth directed all state agencies and higher education public institutions to harden their systems and safeguard “critical infrastructure, intellectual property, and personal information from being accessed by hostile foreign nations that attempt to infiltrate Texas,” including the PRC and CCP.
