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The
governor also prohibited popular Chinese-owned social media apps
Xiaohongshu, or what some are calling RedNote, and Lemon8 from
all state-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 in a statement. “Texas will
continue to protect and defend our state from hostile foreign
actors.”
The governor's office declined to comment further for this
story.
AI startup DeepSeek has rocked markets upon demonstrating its
capacity to compete with industry leader OpenAI.
U.S. also users flocked to Xiaohongshu in the days leading up to
TikTok's short-lived ban. It's a popular app in China and
surrounding countries — such as Malaysia and Taiwan — with
roughly 300 million active users that many Americans were using
as a replacement doe TikTok, and as a form of protest against
the ban.
Lemon8 is also a Chinese company owned by ByteDance, the parent
company of TikTok. The social media app also gained traction in
the days leading up to the original TikTok ban on Jan. 19.
Texas, along with many other states and the federal government,
has banned TikTok on government devices. The app's future
remains in limbo after President Trump issued an executive order
to give ByteDance more time to divest TikTok's U.S. operations.
ByteDance did not immediately return an email seeking comment.
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