The Connecticut Attorney General and Consumer Counsel secured a settlement requiring Charter Communications to adhere to consumer protection commitments as it acquires Cox Communications. The agreement, pending PURA approval, includes pricing transparency, service reliability improvements, a $3 million digital access investment, and compliance with the Connecticut Data Privacy Act. It also maintains a Connecticut workforce and office, and prevents cost pass-through to customers.
The settlement requires Charter to maintain its Stamford office and in-state workforce for five years, invest $3 million in digital access and literacy, ensure billing transparency and limit fees, provide battery-backup options and outage credits, expand video services in former Cox areas, carry local news channels, and submit a CTDPA impact assessment and integration report. It also prohibits passing transaction costs to customers and ensures cooperation with state agencies.
In-house legal teams should review all customer-facing agreements (including service contracts, terms of service, and data processing addendums) for Charter and Cox in Connecticut. Specific clauses to scrutinize include pricing terms (to ensure transparency and prevent hidden fees), service level agreements (to verify reliability and outage reporting standards), data handling provisions (to confirm compliance with the Connecticut Data Privacy Act), and any cost allocation or pass-through language. Changes may be needed to embed pricing transparency mechanisms, update SLAs with measurable reliability metrics, incorporate data privacy compliance certifications, and explicitly prohibit passing merger-related costs to customers. Additionally, agreements involving workforce or local office commitments should be aligned with the settlement's maintenance requirements.
Entity
Charter Communications and Cox Communications
Also known as: Charter Communications, Cox Communications
Industry
TelecommunicationsOfficial Press Release
https://portal.ct.gov/ag/press-releases/2026-press-releases/consumer-protection-commitments-in-proposed-charter-cox-merger-settlement
charter cox occ oag settlement agreement.pdf?rev=a4b40ef158a
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/press_releases/2026/charter-cox-occ-oag-settlement-agreement.pdf?rev=a4b40ef158a6488d85c753d1f7f9f7ab&hash=29E8870D9ED013BBE4575418ADC56DA8
Connecticut Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://portal.ct.gov/AG/Privacy/Privacy-Resources
"Charter has sought approval from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority to acquire Cox."
"submit a specified Connecticut Data Privacy Act impact assessment"
On May 11, 2026, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong led a bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to abandon draft guidance that would ease approvals for flavored e-cigarette products. The coalition argues the guidance ignores evidence that flavored e-cigarettes disproportionately drive youth addiction and that FDA has failed to enforce existing authorization requirements for e-cigarette products. The letter references past tobacco and e-cigarette enforcement actions, including the 1998 tobacco master settlement agreement and the 2022 $438.5 million settlement with JUUL Labs.
Connecticut’s legislature passed House Bill 5312, creating new civil enforcement mechanisms for deepfake digital sexual assault, including unauthorized dissemination of synthetically created intimate images and AI-generated child pornography. The bill establishes a private right of action for victims and empowers the Connecticut Attorney General to pursue civil injunctions and penalties against abusers and platforms hosting illegal content. This builds on prior Connecticut laws criminalizing unauthorized intimate image dissemination.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong praised final passage of House Bill 5312, which creates new civil enforcement mechanisms for deepfake digital sexual assault. The legislation allows the AG to pursue civil injunctions and penalties against platforms that disseminate illegal synthetic intimate images, including AI-generated child pornography, and establishes a private right of action for victims. The bill builds on prior Connecticut laws criminalizing unauthorized dissemination of intimate images.
$300K
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced a settlement with international trade platform Made-in-China to cease all U.S. sales of unlawful 'research grade' GLP-1 weight loss drugs following an investigation into direct sales to consumers without prescriptions or medical oversight. The settlement prohibits the platform from hosting GLP-1 sales to U.S. customers, requires a monitoring system to remove non-compliant listings, and imposes a $300,000 penalty suspended after an initial $30,000 payment. Additional settlements were announced with Radiance Medspa and Advanced Medical Weight Loss over compounded non-FDA approved GLP-1 drugs.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued a statement on May 1, 2026, announcing the final passage of bipartisan legislation targeting youth social media addiction and artificial intelligence harms. The legislation imposes new obligations on social media companies regarding minor account settings, parental consent, and reporting, as well as requirements for AI chatbot operators and employers using automated decision tools. The statement also references ongoing enforcement actions against Meta and TikTok for allegedly designing addictive platform features for youth.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued a statement on May 1, 2026, following final passage of bipartisan legislation to combat youth social media addiction and regulate artificial intelligence harms. The legislation imposes new requirements on social media companies regarding minor users, including parental consent for addictive algorithms, default privacy settings, and annual reporting obligations. It also establishes rules for AI chat bots and automated employment decision tools, including disclosure requirements and self-harm detection protocols.