States Fight Back: Tech Giants Face Child Safety Lawsuits

0:00It's April 29th. This is U.S. News Today, AI-powered stories shaping the nation. I'm Cory with the story. States are stepping up to protect kids online, hitting big tech and AI companies hard with lawsuits and deals since Congress can't get its act, together on child safety laws. Attorneys general from places like Alabama, Nevada, and West Virginia just wrapped big settlements with Roblox, the kid favorite gaming site accused. Of weak safeguards for minors, Alabama scored $12.2 million and forced real changes in how the platform handles young users. Parents and officials are fired up, saying state leaders listen closer to families than far off lawmakers. Republican and Democrat AGs alike are pushing consumer protection rules to tweak company habits, filling the gap left by stalled federal talks. Now probes are spreading to meta, tick-tock, discord, snap and Reddit over their child safety fails, while AI firms face heat for tools enabling harm, like abuse images or

1:01suicide advice. Recent court wins against meta and Google are chipping away at old legal shields for tech giants. With states acting like they did against tobacco back in the 90s, expect more pressure building until Washington wakes up or steps aside.