A tech industry group raised privacy and other concerns with a Texas bill (HB-186) that would require age verification and ban kids younger than 18 from creating social media accounts.
Social Media
Social media platforms are facing intense scrutiny over how they collect, share and monetize user data. As new state and federal laws focus on age verification, parental controls and transparency requirements, social media companies face legal risks around algorithmic targeting, third-party tracking and children's safety. This page follows key legislation, investigations and lawsuits shaping privacy practices for major social platforms.
Texas and Nebraska governors will consider signing age-verification bills soon.
Noyb is considering mounting a European class action against Meta if the social media platform continues with a plan to use data of EU Facebook and Instragram users for AI training, the Austrian privacy advocacy group said Wednesday.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D) hailed a "strong bipartisan vote" in the state legislature on a social media age-verification bill. The House voted 121-26 Wednesday in favor of HB-6857, sending it to the Senate.
The Connecticut Senate passed legislation to update the state's comprehensive privacy law. After a 26-9 vote Wednesday, SB-1356 goes to the House.
Bills about surveillance pricing and kids on social media passed the California Assembly on Monday and will go to the Senate.
Age-verification tools are not a silver bullet that will protect children and young people on internet sites and social media platforms, speakers said Monday at a session of the European Dialogue on Internet Governance.
Google's nearly $1.4 billion settlement with Texas solidifies the state's status as an aggressive privacy enforcer, lawyers and consumer privacy advocates said Monday. Texas announced the settlement Friday in a case involving Google's allegedly unlawful tracking and collection of users' personal information, including geolocation and biometric data (see 2505090071).
Irish Data Protection Commission Deputy Commissioner Cian O'Brien sees a "welcome trend" toward greater agreement among EU data protection authorities (DPAs) in enforcement cases. He spoke Friday during an IAPP webinar about the office's decision against TikTok.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced a nearly $1.4 billion settlement with Google in a case about the company's unlawful tracking and collecting of user's personal information, including geolocation and biometric data. Paxton filed the lawsuit against Google in October 2022, alleging violations of the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act (see 2210200075).