Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds bans Chinese-owned DeepSeek, RedNote on state devices

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday she is banning the Chinese-owned artificial intelligence DeepSeek and social media apps such as RedNote from state devices and prohibiting state agencies from subscribing or having an account.

Iowa is the fourth state to have recently banned the Chinese AI model and social media apps from state devices following directives from governors in Texas, New York and Virginia. Reynolds’ directive bans DeepSeek and the apps Lemon8, RedNote, Webull, Tiger Brokers and Moomoo from state devices.

The directive says the Chinese-based AI company and the apps pose a state security risk. It is not immediately clear how many agencies use the apps and DeepSeek on state-owned devices.

Reynolds’ directive also says RedNote’s company has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and because RedNote and DeepSeek’s headquarters are in China, they are compelled to “support, assist and cooperate” with the government’s intelligence services.

Reynolds banned Tiktok, which the Chinese-based company ByteDance owns, from state devices in 2022.

“Both RedNote and Lemon8 collect significant amount(s) of user data, including location, browsing activity, and device-specific information like IP addresses,” the directive states.

The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a law to ban TikTok in January, but President Donald Trump’s administration delayed the shutdown for 75 days before it went permanently dark.

U.S. social media users saw RedNote and ByteDance’s Lemon8 as popular alternatives to TikTok after the app faced a shutdown. DeepSeek has also recently grown in popularity as a rival to OpenAI and Meta.

Sabine Martin covers politics for the Register. She can be reached by email at sabine.martin@gannett.com or by phone at (515) 284-8132. Follow her on X at @sabinefmartin.