Attorney General Ken Paxton Launches Investigations into Character.AI, Reddit, Instagram, Discord
Over Children’s Privacy and Safety Practices as Texas Leads the Nation in Data Privacy Enforcement
December 13, 2024 – Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched investigations into Character.AI and fourteen other companies including Reddit, Instagram, and Discord regarding their privacy and safety practices for minors pursuant to the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (“SCOPE”) Act and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (“TDPSA”).
The SCOPE Act prohibits digital service providers from sharing, disclosing, or selling a minor’s personal identifying information without permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian. The SCOPE Act also requires companies to provide parents with tools to manage and control the privacy settings on their child’s account. The TDPSA imposes strict notice and consent requirements on companies that collect and use minors’ personal data. The protections of these laws extend to how minors interact with AI products.
“Technology companies are on notice that my office is vigorously enforcing Texas’s strong data privacy laws. These investigations are a critical step toward ensuring that social media and AI companies comply with our laws designed to protect children from exploitation and harm,” said Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The investigations follow Attorney General Paxton’s recent lawsuit against TikTok for operating in violation of the safety and privacy requirements of the SCOPE Act.
This year, Attorney General Paxton launched the largest data privacy and security initiative of any State AG office. As part of this initiative, Texas brought a major lawsuit against General Motors for illegally surveilling drivers, collecting driver data, and sharing it with their insurance companies.
In July, Attorney General Paxton secured an historic $1.4 billion settlement for the State of Texas with Meta (formerly Facebook) for unlawfully collecting and using facial recognition data—the largest settlement ever obtained from an action brought by a single State.
