State AGs Launch Wave of Lawsuits Over Youth Safety Practices on Major Tech Platforms

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  • Louisiana AG Liz Murrill sued Roblox Corporation, alleging violations of state consumer protection law, and asserting claims of negligence, public nuisance, and unjust enrichment. The complaint alleges that Roblox, a popular online gaming service for children and teens, has failed to implement basic safety measures, endangering child safety by facilitating child exploitation and the distribution of child sexual abuse material. The complaint also alleges that Roblox failed to inform child users and their parents of the dangers of using the platform. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, restitution, civil penalties, damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs, among other relief.
  • Minnesota AG Keith Ellison sued TikTok Inc. for allegedly violating the state’s consumer protection laws. The complaint alleges that TikTok deliberately employs a highly addictive recommendation algorithm and other predatory features—such as infinite scroll, frequent push notifications, beauty filters, and virtual currency-based livestreaming—to exploit young users. AG Ellison argues that these features are designed to extract young users’ time, attention, data, and money without informing them or their parents of the known risks of using their products. The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, disgorgement, civil penalties, and attorneys’ fees and costs, among other relief.
  • Nevada AG Aaron Ford sued tech holding company MediaLab.AI alleging that its social messaging app, Kik, violates state consumer protection law and also bringing claims of negligence, products liability, and unjust enrichment. According to the complaint, Kik’s anonymity features—including its lack of authentication requirements like emails or phone numbers—and its appeal to a predominantly teen user base have facilitated child exploitation and abuse. The complaint seeks injunctive and declaratory relief, damages, civil penalties, and attorneys’ fees and costs, among other relief.
  • We have previously reported on other AG efforts to protect youth on various digital platforms, including recent lawsuits against Snapchat regarding its youth safety and data practices.
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