Commonwealth of Virginia bans DeepSeek app and web access: guidance for Virginia Tech community
Virginia governor issued a new Executive Order prohibiting access to DeepSeek apps on state-owned or managed resources.
From: Division of Information Technology
On Tuesday, Feb. 11, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order banning the use of the DeepSeek application on state-issued devices or state-maintained networks. Access to these apps and publicly available websites is now restricted on all Virginia Tech and state-managed networks. The executive order is intended to safeguard sensitive information from potential threats.
Restrictions set forth in the new order will impact the university community in the following ways:
Beginning Feb. 12, access to DeepSeek.com and the DeepSeek app has been restricted on all Virginia Tech and state-managed networks, including eduroam, VT Open WiFi, wired, and VPN at Virginia Tech.
DeepSeek applications or sites may not be used on any university-issued device, regardless of what network is being used at the time. The DeepSeek App should be deleted from university-issued devices.
In compliance with this executive order, all members of our university community should immediately stop using the DeepSeek website (deepseek.com) and mobile app on all university-owned devices and networks.
If you need assistance with completing any of these actions, please contact 4Help IT Support online at 4help.vt.edu or by phone at 540-231-4357.
Researchers and others exploring Large Language Model (LLM) development should reach out to Advanced Research Computing (http://arc.vt.edu/help) for additional guidance on working with downloaded or containerized LLM models.
Note that the university does offer access to Microsoft Copilot, an approved generative AI tool, and is in the process of evaluating other AI tools.
More information and answers to frequently asked questions regarding these state-mandated app and website restrictions may be found at it.vt.edu/deepseek-restriction.
Additional resources: