WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Texas Attor­ney Gen­er­al

Ken Pax­ton said on Thursday his office launched investigations

into over a dozen technology platforms over their privacy and

safety practices for minors.

Those being probed included artificial Intelligence chatbot

startup Character.AI and fourteen other platforms like Reddit ( RDDT ),

Instagram and Discord, the Texas attorney general

added.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Tech platforms have come under increasing scrutiny over

their impact on children. Top U.S. social media platforms made

an estimated $11 billion in advertising revenue from users

younger than 18 in 2022, according to a Harvard study published

last year.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last year warned that

young people using social media risked suffering body image

issues, disordered eating, poor sleep quality and low

self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls.

KEY QUOTE

"Technology companies are on notice that my office is

vigorously enforcing Texas' strong data privacy laws," Paxton

said.

CONTEXT

Social media companies have said they will work with

officials to protect young users, and say they have introduced

new tools designed to protect teens online, including parental

control features. The firms had no immediate comment on

Thursday.

Paxton's statement said the probes would focus on the

platforms' compliance with two Texas laws - the Securing

Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act and the

Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA).

The SCOPE Act bans digital service providers from sharing,

disclosing, or selling a minor's personal identifying

information without permission from the child's parent or legal

guardian. The legislation requires firms to provide parents with

tools to manage and control the privacy settings on their

child's account.

The TDPSA imposes notice and consent requirements on

companies that collect and use minors' personal data, Paxton's

office said.