Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said he and his allies in other states will pursue other tech and social media companies after Meta’s $17.1 billion settlement resolving children’s safety claims earlier this year. And he’s naming names.
“Roblox, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube are next. They all have to do the same thing: Protect our kids, and all of us, frankly, from misinformation and disinformation,” Tong told <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/the-enforcers-by-politico” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>The Enforcers, POLITICO’s new newsletter focused on state attorneys general.
Tong has positioned himself as a key player on tech and antitrust issues, and has already launched an inquiry into Roblox. He said Meta’s settlement with 47 states, which also resulted in the social media giant dramatically restricting minors’ access to Instagram and Facebook, is just the start as state attorneys general ramp up consumer protection efforts and scrutinize tech and AI companies.
“I think attorneys general have made it very clear,” he said. “Everybody knows that we are not just picking on Meta, right? This is the whole industry and the way in which social media harms young people and children.”
Tong drew some distinction between social media and frontier AI companies, but noted significant overlap among the companies. Asked whether he expects a multistate action against frontier AI companies, Tong pointed to an open inquiry into OpenAI.
“My intention is to engage with [frontier AI companies] to learn from them what they’re concerned about,” Tong said. “And focusing our conversation about how states will lead, not how states can lead, but how states will lead to provide a regulatory infrastructure for AI in this country.”
