Why Are Governments Banning DeepSeek? Security Threats Explained

DeepSeek R1 has become the latest frontier in artificial intelligence (AI) — but like all frontiers, it is one riddled with dangers.

Italy, Thailand, and even individual U.S. states have now outlawed the China-based AI model, and organizations, including NASA and the U.S. Navy, are also banning its use on government-issued devices.

While DeepSeek matches AI benchmarks of models like ChatGPT and the app has been downloaded at least 16 million times worldwide — the most downloaded app in 140 countries — the initial enthusiasm that greeted it has now been replaced with suspicion, with accusations of data leaks, fraud, and mistrust.

Below, Techopedia explores which countries and agencies have banned DeepSeek R1 and why users and the enterprise might want to be wary of using it.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Italy & Taiwan Lead the Charge on Banning DeepSeek
3. Governments Are Not the Only Ones Worried About DeepSeek
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. Italy & Taiwan Lead the Charge on Banning DeepSeek
3. Governments Are Not the Only Ones Worried About DeepSeek
Show Full Guide
4. The Bottom Line
5. FAQs
6. References

Italy & Taiwan Lead the Charge on Banning DeepSeek

Taiwan became the latest country to ban DeepSeek R1, prohibiting its use by government agencies, public sector workers, and any provider of critical infrastructure.

The reason? As Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs put it: “DeepSeek AI service is a Chinese product.”

This simple statement has many nations worried — as a Chinese entity, DeepSeek can be mandated at any time to share any data with Chinese intelligence agencies, making it a security threat to any government.

As the Ministry of Digital Affairs continued: “[DeepSeek]’s operation involves cross-border transmission and information leakage and other information security concerns.”

Italy has gone further, and we suspect it will not be the last country in Europe to ban DeepSeek.

The nation has ordered a complete ban on DeepSeek, blocking the AI from processing data from its citizens.

It initially gave the company — Beijing DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence — 20 days to answer questions related to its use of personal data but then preemptively authorized the block. There are reports that DeepSeek said it would not cooperate with the requests.

Italian data protection agency, Garante, said: “Contrary to what was found by the authority, the companies have declared that they do not operate in Italy and that European legislation does not apply to them.

“[There is a] possible risk to the data of millions of people in Italy.”

Agostino Ghiglia, who sits on the Italian data authority’s board, told Reuters:

“Not only did DeepSeek’s response not give us any reassurance, it worsened their position, and that’s the reason we decided to order the block.

“If there is no cooperation, DeepSeek will continue to be blocked in Italy.”

DeepSeek has already disappeared from the App Store and Google Play in Italy, as well as in Ireland.

The UK has not banned the app, but UK AI minister Feryal Clark warned citizens about using it.

There are calls in Greece to follow Italy’s ban, and Irish, Belgian, and French authorities are believed to have filed similar requests for information. Further afield, South Korea and Australia have also filed requests.

But regardless of whether DeepSeek replies or not, the bottom line remains the same: as a Chinese company, it is obligated to comply with Chinese intelligence agencies.

Not that intelligence agencies will need to look far — security analysts have already found massive holes in DeepSeek’s security, with exposed databases revealing chat prompts and internal data.

Governments Are Not the Only Ones Worried About DeepSeek

Moving from nation-states to the state level, Texas is the first U.S. state to ban DeepSeek use on government devices, with a fiery statement from Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott:

“Texas will not allow the Chinese Communist Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps.”

Abbott explained: “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.”

While the U.S. government has not officially banned DeepSeek, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has confirmed that the National Security Council is investigating its security implications.

But branches of the government have already taken action, with NASA enforcing a ban and saying: “DeepSeek and its products and services are not authorized for use with NASA’s data and information or on government-issued devices and networks.”

It is a similar story in the Navy, with DeepSeek forbidden “for any work-related tasks or personal use.”

The Bottom Line

DeepSeek started on a positive note — its low price for using it at scale, in particular, shook the AI industry, as well as the stock price of giants such as Nvidia.

Following its January 2025 launch, Nvidia senior research manager Dr. Jim Fan called it “keeping the original mission of OpenAI alive – truly open, frontier research that empowers all.”

But from allegations of intellectual property theft from OpenAI, data leaks showing user data and prompts, and the very real fear that Chinese authorities can sift through the data of millions of worldwide users, it is no surprise governments are reacting sharply to ban its use.

We expect the enterprise to follow suit and more countries to outlaw DeepSeek’s use.

We live in strange times. Say what you will about OpenAI and other Western AI models, but they need to comply with strict data protection laws and risk lawsuits if they break the rules.

Sending a ‘cease-and-desist’ letter to China? It might as well get lost in the mail.

FAQs