New County Consumer Protection Unit Announces First Set Of Lawsuits

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego County Monday announced three lawsuits as part of its new Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit against AppLovin, Roblox and Polymaker, cases county leaders said involve children's safety, consumer privacy and 3D-printed ghost guns.

Terra Lawson-Remer, chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, fought for the new consumer unit for more than a year, arguing the region needed stronger enforcement as federal consumer protections wane.

"People should be able to trust the products they buy, the apps their kids use and the companies they deal with," she said. "Families are already stretched thin by the cost of living. They should not also have to pay the price when companies mislead them, misuse their information or put their kids at risk. We built this team to stand up for San Diegans and make sure powerful companies play by the same rules as everyone else."

The first suit is against AppLovin, a digital advertising platform. The county alleges that even when parents turned on controls meant to protect their children, AppLovin's technology "bypassed those safeguards and served ads for adult dating, alcohol, vaping, cannabis, graphic sexual content and violence inside mobile games used by children."

The lawsuit also states the company collects sensitive information from devices -- including data that could reveal where a child lives, goes to school or whether they are asleep or awake. The county is bringing claims under California's False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law and is seeking injunctive relief, restitution and civil penalties.

"The mission of the Consumer Fairness and Public Protection Unit is straightforward: When bad actors or unlawful business practices put our children, our families, and our communities at risk, this office is here to act," County Counsel Damon Brown said. "Our first three lawsuits filed today in San Diego Superior Court are proof positive that we have hit the ground running. Each of these cases is grounded in the law and seeks meaningful relief to stop and prevent harmful conduct."

The second lawsuit against Roblox -- one of the world's largest online gaming platforms -- alleges the company marketed its platform to parents and children as a safe place to play, create and connect, while "failing to put adequate protections in place to stop adults from posing as children and contacting young users," leaving the door open for child sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking, a county statement said.

San Diego County is bringing claims under California's Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law and is seeking injunctive relief to stop the alleged practices.

Finally, the suit against 3D-printing filament and materials Polymaker alleges the company knowingly advertised its products as capable of creating "ghost guns" -- unserialized 3D printed firearms -- despite the practice being illegal in the state and county. The suit alleges Polymaker "did more than sell a product that some customers happened to misuse. The company created firearm-themed products, partnered with gun-printing influencers, paid affiliates to promote its filament to gun-printing audiences, provided technical guidance for firearm applications and engaged directly with online communities devoted to printing guns," the county statement said.

The county is asking the court to stop these practices, impose civil penalties and require Polymaker to "give up proceeds tied to unlawful conduct."

"Parents should be able to trust that a game marketed as safe for their kids is actually safe," Lawson-Remer said. "People should be able to use technology without their family's most sensitive information being secretly collected. And companies should not be able to profit by helping people evade laws designed to keep our communities safe. Those are basic expectations. Our job is to make sure the rules actually mean something."

— City News Service