A new lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General against Roblox has brought privacy, safety, and data handling into the spotlight for online platforms, especially those used by kids and teens. The allegations followed concerns raised by advocacy groups in 2024 and suggest that Texas will continue to be active in the privacy space.Continue Reading Texas Sets Sights on Roblox
If you thought social media needed a warning label, many state regulators agree. California recently passed a new warning label law, which will take effect on January 1, 2027. That is, unless it is challenged. Meanwhile, Colorado is fighting to keep alive a similar law following a NetChoice challenge. Other states (like Arkansas, California, Florida, Utah, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas) have not been successful, seeing similar laws stopped on First Amendment grounds.Continue Reading Warning! States Continue to Worry About Social Media and Teens
California is getting serious about age checks online, and businesses should pay attention. Thanks to the passage of AB 1043, starting January 1, 2027, software makers and app stores will need to know the user’s age (or at least their age bracket) and signal it to apps every time a download or launch happens. For businesses that may be unclear whether COPPA or CCPA’s provisions for teenagers apply to their app, this law is aimed at clarifying that ambiguity.Continue Reading “How Old Are You, Anyway?” California’s New Law Makes Apps Ask… And Remember!
Companies can take many lessons from the FTC’s recent COPPA settlement with a robot app from the toy manufacturer Apitor Technologies. According to the FTC complaint, the app allegedly allowed a Chinese entity to collect and share children’s geolocation information without parental consent – violating COPPA. In particular, children could use the app to program their robots, but to do so, they needed to enable location permissions. Once enabled, a third party SDK (JPush), developed by Chinese-based entity Jiguang, would send the child’s location to that entity’s Chinese-based servers.Continue Reading What Can We Learn from This Administration’s FTC COPPA Settlement
Connecticut has revised its privacy law for the third time since it was passed in 2022. With SB 1295, the state has mirrored others (like Colorado and Montana) in making ongoing changes to its law. Many of the changes incorporate either in concept, or wholesale, provisions that exist in other states. Connecticut makes these changes following 2024 and 2025 AG reports, which reports included recommendations to lawmakers, some of which ended up in SB 1295. Continue Reading Connecticut, the Provisions State, Adds New Provisions to its Privacy Law
Oregon will begin to regulate the use of minors’ information and sale of users’ location data (regardless of age) with an update to its Oregon Consumer Privacy Act. These revisions will go into effect January 1, 2026. As amended, those subject to the law will not be able to profile or serve targeted advertising to anyone under 16. This includes both those the company knows are under that age, as well as those that they should know are under that age. (Currently, restriction that applies to consumers that are at least thirteen but not older than fifteen without their consent.)Continue Reading Oregon’s Privacy Law Update Adds to Patchwork Approach to Minors and Location Data
Vermont has joined the list of states attempting to regulate the use of children’s information collected online, passing an Age-Appropriate Design Code Act. This law mirrors ones we have seen in other US states as well as the UK, and applies to online services reasonably accessed by minors, that collect personal data. We expect it to be challenged, but if it is not, it would go into effect January 1. Among other things, the law provides the following:Continue Reading Growing List of States Attempting to Regulate Kids’ Online Privacy: Vermont Joins the Group
Nebraska’s governor signed a bill into law that, among other things, creates the Parental Rights in Social Media Act. The provisions of the law will go into effect July 1, 2026, unless challenged. The law is similar to several other states, most of which have been challenged (including Arkansas, California, and Utah) and some struck down.Continue Reading Growing List of States Attempting to Regulate Kids’ Social Media Accounts: Nebraska Husks Up
The Michigan Attorney General has filed a complaint against Roku, a popular TV content platform, alleging, among other things, violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Video Privacy Protection Act (and a similar Michigan law). As most are aware, COPPA requires prior parental consent before collecting information from children online. It gives standing to both the FTC and to states’ attorneys general, but no private right of action. Most cases brought since COPPA’s passage have been brought by the FTC, however, and not by states. This current Michigan case comes after a group of 43 states, including Michigan, sent a letter to the FTC urging it to strengthen and update its COPPA Rule.Continue Reading Michigan AG Sues Roku Over Alleged Privacy Violations
Virginia’s governor recently signed into law a bill that amends the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act. As revised, the law will include specific provisions impacting children’s use of social media. Unless contested, the changes will take effect January 1, 2026. Courts have struck down similar laws in other states (see our posts about those in Arkansas, California, and Utah) and thus opposition seems likely here as well. Of note, the social media laws that have been struck down in other states attempted to require parental consent before minors could use social media platforms. This law is different, as it allows account creation without parental consent. Instead, it places restrictions on account use for both minors and social media platforms.Continue Reading Virginia Will Add to Patchwork of Laws Governing Social Media and Children (For Now?)
Arkansas’ second attempt at regulating minor’s access to social media – in the form of the Social Media Safety Act (SB 689) – has again been struck down as unconstitutional. The court permanently enjoined the state from enforcing the law. It was a modified version of Arkansas’ 2023 SB 396, that was also blocked. The plaintiff in both challenges was NetChoice, a group familiar to anyone following kids’ social media laws. As a result of NetChoice’s efforts, similar laws have been blocked in California, Utah, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, and Texas. Courts in those states, as in Arkansas, found that the laws were unduly burdensome on free speech, with overly broad content restrictions not tailored to prevent harm to minors.Continue Reading Arkansas’ Kids Social Media Law: Another One Bites the Dust