{"formats":[{"name":"JSON","format":"json","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-json\/2.2-5514.1.json"},{"name":"Plain Text","format":"text","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-text\/2.2-5514.1.txt"},{"name":"XML","format":"xml","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-xml\/2.2-5514.1.xml"},{"name":"HTML","format":"html","url":"\/downloads\/2025\/code-html\/2.2-5514.1.html"}],"law_id":55911,"edition_id":1,"section_id":55911,"structure_id":14501,"section_number":"2.2-5514.1","catch_line":"Prohibited applications and websites","history":"2023, c. 768.","full_text":"A\n\nFor the purposes of this section, unless the context requires a different meaning:\n\t\t\t“ByteDance Ltd.” means the Chinese internet technology company founded by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo in 2012, and any successor company or entity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“Public body” means the same as that term is defined in § 2.2-5514.\n\t\t\t“Tencent Holdings Ltd.” means the Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, and any successor company or entity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“TikTok” means the video-sharing application developed by ByteDance Ltd. that hosts user-submitted videos.\n\t\t\t“WeChat” means the multipurpose social media, messaging, and payment application developed by Tencent Holdings Ltd.B\n\nExcept as provided in subsection C, no employee or agent of any public body or person or entity contracting with any such public body shall download or use any application, including TikTok or WeChat, or access any website developed by ByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd. (i) on any government-issued device or government-owned or government-leased equipment, including mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, or other devices capable of connecting to the Internet, or (ii) while connected to any wired or wireless Internet network owned, operated, or maintained by the Commonwealth.C\n\nThe Superintendent of State Police or the chief law-enforcement officer of the appropriate county or city may grant an exception to the provisions of subsection B for the purpose of allowing any employee, agent, person, or entity to participate in any law-enforcement-related matters.","order_by":null,"text":{"0":{"id":204828,"text":"For the purposes of this section, unless the context requires a different meaning:\n\t\t\t“ByteDance Ltd.” means the Chinese internet technology company founded by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo in 2012, and any successor company or entity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“Public body” means the same as that term is defined in § 2.2-5514.\n\t\t\t“Tencent Holdings Ltd.” means the Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, and any successor company or entity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“TikTok” means the video-sharing application developed by ByteDance Ltd. that hosts user-submitted videos.\n\t\t\t“WeChat” means the multipurpose social media, messaging, and payment application developed by Tencent Holdings Ltd.","type":"section","prefixes":["A"],"prefix":"A","entire_prefix":"A","prefix_anchor":"A","level":1,"next_prefix":"B"},"1":{"id":204829,"text":"Except as provided in subsection C, no employee or agent of any public body or person or entity contracting with any such public body shall download or use any application, including TikTok or WeChat, or access any website developed by ByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd. (i) on any government-issued device or government-owned or government-leased equipment, including mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, or other devices capable of connecting to the Internet, or (ii) while connected to any wired or wireless Internet network owned, operated, or maintained by the Commonwealth.","type":"section","prefixes":["B"],"prefix":"B","entire_prefix":"B","prefix_anchor":"B","level":1,"prior_prefix":"A","next_prefix":"C"},"2":{"id":204830,"text":"The Superintendent of State Police or the chief law-enforcement officer of the appropriate county or city may grant an exception to the provisions of subsection B for the purpose of allowing any employee, agent, person, or entity to participate in any law-enforcement-related matters.","type":"section","prefixes":["C"],"prefix":"C","entire_prefix":"C","prefix_anchor":"C","level":1,"prior_prefix":"B"}},"ancestry":[{"id":14501,"edition_id":1,"name":"Prohibition on the Use of Certain Products and Services","identifier":"55.3","label":"chapter","depth":4,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12751,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:48:22","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:48:22","permalink":{"id":177999,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":14501,"identifier":"55.3","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/55.3","url":"\/2.2\/II\/B\/55.3\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12751,"edition_id":1,"name":"Transaction of Public Business","identifier":"B","label":"part","depth":3,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12750,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":176445,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12751,"identifier":"B","token":"2.2\/II\/B","url":"\/2.2\/II\/B\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12750,"edition_id":1,"name":"Administration of State Government","identifier":"II","label":"subtitle","depth":2,"order_by":1,"parent_id":12749,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":176253,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12750,"identifier":"II","token":"2.2\/II","url":"\/2.2\/II\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}},{"id":12749,"edition_id":1,"name":"Administration of Government","identifier":"2.2","label":"title","depth":1,"order_by":1,"parent_id":null,"metadata":{},"date_created":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","date_modified":"2026-06-26 03:43:51","permalink":{"id":171453,"object_type":"structure","relational_id":12749,"identifier":"2.2","token":"2.2","url":"\/2.2\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1}}],"structure_contents":[{"id":87153,"structure_id":14501,"section_number":"2.2-5514","catch_line":"Prohibited products and services and required incident reporting","url":"\/2.2-5514\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/55.3\/2.2-5514","metadata":false},{"id":55911,"structure_id":14501,"section_number":"2.2-5514.1","catch_line":"Prohibited applications and websites","url":"\/2.2-5514.1\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/55.3\/2.2-5514.1","metadata":false}],"previous_section":{"id":87153,"structure_id":14501,"section_number":"2.2-5514","catch_line":"Prohibited products and services and required incident reporting","url":"\/2.2-5514\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/55.3\/2.2-5514","metadata":false},"metadata":false,"official_url":"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/2.2-5514.1\/","history_text":"

This law was first created in 2023. The record of its establishment is cataloged in chapter 768<\/a> of that year\u2019s edition of \u201cActs of Assembly,\u201d the annual state publication listing all changes made to the Code of Virginia in that year.<\/p>","references":false,"refers_to":[{"id":87153,"section_number":"2.2-5514","catch_line":"Prohibited products and services and required incident reporting","order_by":null,"url":"\/2.2-5514\/"}],"permalink":{"id":178005,"object_type":"law","relational_id":55911,"identifier":"2.2-5514.1","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/55.3\/2.2-5514.1","url":"\/2.2-5514.1\/","edition_id":1,"permalink":0,"preferred":1},"url":"\/2.2-5514.1\/","token":"2.2\/II\/B\/55.3\/2.2-5514.1","dublin_core":{"Title":"Prohibited applications and websites","Type":"Text","Format":"text\/html","Identifier":"\u00a7 2.2-5514.1","Relation":"Code of Virginia"},"html":"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A.<\/span> For the purposes of this section, unless the context requires a different meaning:\n\t\t\t“ByteDance Ltd.” means the Chinese internet technology company founded by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo in 2012, and any successor company or entity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“Public body<\/span>” means the same as that term is defined in § 2.2-5514<\/a>.\n\t\t\t“Tencent Holdings Ltd.” means the Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, and any successor company or entity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“TikTok<\/span>” means the video-sharing application developed by ByteDance Ltd. that hosts user-submitted videos.\n\t\t\t“WeChat<\/span>” means the multipurpose social media, messaging, and payment application developed by Tencent Holdings Ltd. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

B.<\/span> Except as provided in subsection C, no employee or agent of any public body<\/span> or person or entity contracting with any such public body<\/span> shall download or use any application, including TikTok<\/span> or WeChat<\/span>, or access any website developed by ByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd. (i) on any government-issued device or government-owned or government-leased equipment, including mobile phones, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, or other devices capable of connecting to the Internet, or (ii) while connected to any wired or wireless Internet network owned, operated, or maintained by the Commonwealth. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

C.<\/span> The Superintendent of State Police or the chief law<\/span>-enforcement officer of the appropriate county or city may grant an exception to the provisions of subsection B for the purpose of allowing any employee, agent, person, or entity to participate in any law<\/span>-enforcement-related matters. <\/i><\/a><\/p><\/section>","plain_text":" CODE OF VIRGINIA\n\nPROHIBITED APPLICATIONS AND WEBSITES (\u00a7 2.2-5514.1)\n\nA. For the purposes of this section, unless the context requires a different\nmeaning:\n\t\t\t“ByteDance Ltd.” means the Chinese internet technology company\nfounded by Zhang Yiming and Liang Rubo in 2012, and any successor company or\nentity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“Public body” means the same as that term is defined in §\n2.2-5514.\n\t\t\t“Tencent Holdings Ltd.” means the Chinese multinational\ntechnology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in\nShenzhen, China, and any successor company or entity owned by such company.\n\t\t\t“TikTok” means the video-sharing application developed by\nByteDance Ltd. that hosts user-submitted videos.\n\t\t\t“WeChat” means the multipurpose social media, messaging, and\npayment application developed by Tencent Holdings Ltd.\n\nB. Except as provided in subsection C, no employee or agent of any public body\nor person or entity contracting with any such public body shall download or use\nany application, including TikTok or WeChat, or access any website developed by\nByteDance Ltd. or Tencent Holdings Ltd. (i) on any government-issued device or\ngovernment-owned or government-leased equipment, including mobile phones,\ndesktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, or other devices capable of\nconnecting to the Internet, or (ii) while connected to any wired or wireless\nInternet network owned, operated, or maintained by the Commonwealth.\n\nC. The Superintendent of State Police or the chief law-enforcement officer of\nthe appropriate county or city may grant an exception to the provisions of\nsubsection B for the purpose of allowing any employee, agent, person, or entity\nto participate in any law-enforcement-related matters.\n\nHISTORY: 2023, c. 768.","edition":{"id":1,"name":"2025","slug":"2025","date_created":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","date_modified":"2026-06-21 22:39:22","current":1,"order_by":1,"last_import":null}}