Virginia law prohibits access to specific apps on government-owned devices and networks.
A 2023 Commonwealth of Virginia law requires public bodies, like Arlington County, to cease use of applications published by ByteDance or Tencent for any official purposes, and to stop allowing access to these applications on government-owned devices and networks. Since this law went into effect on July 1, 2023, several Executive Orders from the Governor of Virginia have added additional applications and publishers restrictions. A complete list is available below in the FAQ. Locally, Arlington County has blocked AI note taking applications and AI meeting participants to prevent County data from being stored in systems outside the County’s control. Library of Virginia policies requires Arlington to store, retain, and destroy County data on specific timelines. AI applications that store data without County consent prevents full compliance under the library’s policies. As the County has implemented improvements in its technology infrastructure, the ability to comply with these laws and policies has improved. As of March 31, 2025, Arlington County has removed and blocked these applications and publishers from County devices, including computers in Arlington Public Libraries and community centers, and blocked use on "ArlingtonWireless ," the County’s free public Wi-Fi network.
Access to these applications using personally owned devices on private networks and for personal business is still permitted.
County Owned Device
The Virginia General Assembly passed a law in 2023 that requires all state-affiliated entities, including Arlington County, to stop using TikTok and other applications developed by ByteDance and Tencent on government-owned devices or government-owned networks. The governor signed the bill in April of 2023. The restriction took effect on July 1, 2023.
Additionally, executive orders issued by the Governor of Virginia requires all state-affiliated entities to stop using DeepSeek’s cloud-native website or applications.
As a patron in one of Arlington’s Public Libraries, you may use TikTok on your personal device connected to your personal cellular network. The Library’s computers and the Arlington Wireless Public Wi-Fi Network will be blocked from accessing TikTok and other applications and websites on the list.
Yes. You are not prohibited from using WeChat on a personal device with a personal network connection. However, you will not be able to use the application on any County-owned device or County-owned network like Arlington Wireless.
Virginia EO 24 (2022), Virginia SB 1459 (2023), and Virginia EO 46 (2025). Recent federal laws and executive orders related to TikTok apply to the marketplace in general, and the availability of applications in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. They do not govern the Commonwealth of Virginia’s internal operations.