Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating 15 tech companies, including Instagram, Discord, Reddit, and Character.AI, for potential violations of child privacy laws.
A recent inquiry from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton may put several tech companies on notice and force them to set up stronger privacy protections for children and their online activity. Texas laws offer limited tools to police these companies, and more regulation is needed. Still, recent legislation gives Texas officials some means to put pressure on social media services.
Paxton’s office recently launched an investigation into 15 tech companies including Instagram, Discord, Reddit, and Character.AI over their compliance with these state laws. We’re referring to the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment — known as the SCOPE Act — and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act. The SCOPE Act requires that companies provide parents with tools to manage and control their children’s privacy settings, and it limits the collection of minors’ data. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act imposes notice and consent requirements on companies that collect children’s data, including artificial intelligence products. SCOPE, however, is an imperfect instrument. A section about protecting children from harmful content was blocked by a judge who ruled that the statute is too vague. However, the rest of the law stands, mandating age requirements and preventing account holders from later altering their age. Character.AI, one of the apps under Paxton’s scrutiny, is a chatbot that generates customized human-like responses and requires users to be 13 or older. However, the Apple App Store lists the app as suitable for people age 17 or older, while Google Play describes the app as requiring parental guidance. It is not clear why Paxton is investigating Character.AI specifically, but recently two families sued the company. They allege that the company encouraged self-harm and violence and that it sent sexually explicit messages to children
CHILD PRIVACY TECH REGULATION SCOPE ACT CHARACTER.AI TEXAS LAWS
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