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CT Attorney General Tong Announces Investigation into MediaLab.AI Inc. (Kik Messenger) over Child Safety and Privacy Violations

MediaLab.AI Inc.September 8, 2026Connecticut Attorney General

Summary

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced a civil investigative demand into MediaLab.AI Inc., owner of the Kik Messenger app, over lax age assurance practices, content moderation, and child safety failures that advocates have dubbed a "predator's paradise." The action follows a July 2025 notice of violation under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act for privacy notice deficiencies and processing sensitive data — including health, biometric, and precise geolocation data — without proper consent, which the company has only partially addressed. The new investigation seeks records related to practices that may constitute unfair or deceptive acts or practices under the CTDPA and the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act. No fine has been imposed to date.

Remedy

The Attorney General has issued a new civil investigative demand requiring MediaLab to produce comprehensive information and records related to its data processing, content moderation, and age assurance practices. No monetary penalty or injunction has been imposed yet, but the company previously received a July 2025 CTDPA notice of violation that it has only partially remedied despite repeated inquiries.

Reporting Requirements

Contract Impact

In-house teams at companies operating messaging apps, social platforms, or any service used by or marketed to minors should audit user-facing agreements and internal policies for age-related consistency: the press release flags that MediaLab marketed Kik as appropriate for users 13+ even after claiming to restrict new users to 18+, and did not update its Terms of Service or privacy notice age restrictions until 2025 — so review Terms of Service, privacy notices, and app store rating representations for alignment. Vendor and data processing agreements should be checked for clauses governing sensitive data categories (health, genetic, biometric, precise geolocation, sexual orientation) to ensure proper opt-in consent is obtained before processing under the CTDPA, and for consumer rights mechanism obligations (notice accuracy, opt-out functionality). Contracts with content moderation, age assurance, and ad-tech vendors should be reviewed for minimum safety standards, effectiveness audit rights, and cooperation obligations in response to state AG civil investigative demands. Finally, companies with outstanding notice-of-violation remediation timelines should ensure corrective commitments are documented and enforceable in vendor and compliance agreements.

Contract Search Terms

age verificationage assuranceminor userssensitive data consentprivacy noticeconsumer rights mechanismscontent moderationterms of service age restrictionprecise geolocation databiometric data

Laws Cited

Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA)Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act

Violation Types

Entity Details

Entity

MediaLab.AI Inc.

Industry

Social Media

Official Sources

Source Evidence

Event Date
"09/08/2026"
Entity Name
"MediaLab.AI Inc. (“MediaLab”)"
Event Type
"today announced an investigation into MediaLab.AI Inc."
Laws Cited
"first issued a notice of violation under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act (CTDPA) to MediaLab in July 2025"
Laws Cited
"in violation of the CTDPA and Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act"
Violation Types
"the processing of sensitive data without first obtaining proper consent, including data related to race or ethnic origin, religious beliefs, health, sex life or sexual orientation, genetic data, biometric data, and precise geolocation data, among other violations"

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