Over the past decade, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has wielded his office’s significant resources to investigate well-known tech giants including Google and Meta over how they moderate content and treat rivals. He helped win settlements against Apple for allegedly misleading users and is suing TikTok for allegedly endangering children's privacy. Now, Paxton’s latest tech investigation includes an expansive number of targets, WIRED has learned.
Rumble, Quora and WeChat are among the 15 companies from which Texas has demanded answers by next week about their collection and use of data of people under 18 years old. Paxton announced the investigation in a press release last month but named only four of the companies being probed—Character.AI, Reddit, Instagram and Discord. WIRED obtained the names of additional targeted companies through a public records request. They also include Kick, Kik, Pinterest, Telegram, Twitch, Tumblr, WhatsApp and Whisper.
Paxton’s office did not respond to requests for comment, including about how it chose which businesses to investigate. But the variety of companies questioned highlights the sprawling reach of a new Texas law aimed at increasing oversight of minors’ use of social media and chat services.
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