A busy week for the Office of the Attorney General — a consumer-protection investigation into LinkedIn’s paid subscription practices, a bankruptcy settlement with 23andMe over the 2023 data breach, and a public endorsement of a House resolution affirming state authority over border enforcement
AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office moved on three fronts this week: opening an investigation into LinkedIn over allegations that the platform advertised so-called “ghost jobs” to paying Premium subscribers, joining a $150 million multistate bankruptcy settlement with the genetic testing company 23andMe over a 2023 data breach affecting 6.9 million customers, and publicly endorsing a congressional resolution introduced by U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) affirming what the resolution’s supporters describe as a state’s constitutional authority to defend itself against border invasion. Here’s a rundown of all three.
Paxton Opens Investigation Into LinkedIn Over Ghost Job Listings on Premium Platform
Paxton’s office announced it has opened an investigation into LinkedIn Corporation over allegations that the professional networking platform has advertised — and profited from — job postings that do not correspond to real, active hiring opportunities.
According to Paxton’s office, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform, with more than one billion registered users worldwide and hundreds of thousands of active users in Texas. The company generates revenue through Premium subscription services, recruiter licenses, and advertising products, and reported approximately $17.8 billion in revenue during fiscal year 2025, according to the attorney general’s office.
According to Paxton’s office, Texas consumers who purchase LinkedIn Premium Career or Premium Business subscriptions pay approximately $39.99 and $69.99 per month, respectively. The office said many of those subscribers are displaced workers, recent graduates, military veterans, and other Texans actively looking for employment, and that these users often rely heavily on LinkedIn’s representations about the quality and legitimacy of available job postings.
The investigation focuses on what Paxton’s office described as “ghost jobs” — listings that either don’t correspond to an actual open position or are posted despite an employer having no immediate intention to hire. According to Paxton’s office, independent studies have estimated that ghost jobs may account for between one-fifth and one-third of online job listings.
According to the attorney general’s office, LinkedIn does not independently verify the hiring status of most listings on its platform, and its Premium marketing materials do not disclose that a significant percentage of job postings may be inactive, unfilled, or otherwise not representative of genuine hiring opportunities.
“I will use every resource available to my office to help job-seeking Texans find and secure real employment opportunities,” Paxton said in a statement. “LinkedIn has a duty to provide the services it advertises and ensure that consumers paying for Premium subscriptions are receiving access to legitimate job postings. I am investigating whether LinkedIn has misled Texans by promoting and profiting from ‘ghost jobs’ while marketing itself as a trusted platform for finding employment.”
According to Paxton’s office, the office has issued a Civil Investigative Demand to LinkedIn seeking documents, data, and internal communications related to the company’s advertising, marketing, verification practices, and Premium subscription representations. LinkedIn has not been formally charged with any wrongdoing, and the company’s response was not included in the attorney general’s release.
Texans who believe they were misled by LinkedIn’s job listings while paying for a Premium subscription can file a complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at texasattorneygeneral.gov.
Paxton Secures Share of $150 Million Multistate Settlement With 23andMe Over 2023 Data Breach
Paxton’s office announced Texas has joined a $150 million multistate bankruptcy settlement with the direct-to-consumer genetic testing company 23andMe, resolving claims arising from a 2023 data breach that the company said exposed the personal information of 6.9 million customers worldwide.
According to Paxton’s office, the settlement was reached with a coalition of 42 states as part of 23andMe’s bankruptcy proceedings, which the company filed in March 2025. Because of what the attorney general’s office described as a finite amount of funds available in the bankruptcy estate and numerous competing claims, actual recovery from the multistate settlement is limited to $18 million, to be paid immediately from available bankruptcy funds. Texas’s share of that recovery is $1,266,860, according to the attorney general’s office.
Separately, according to Paxton’s office, 23andMe also agreed to a $46.75 million class-action settlement in the bankruptcy proceedings to provide relief to affected U.S. consumers who submitted claims by February 17, 2026.
According to Paxton’s office, 23andMe announced in October 2023 that it had discovered a data breach exposing customer data, including — in some cases — genetic ancestry information. The office said subsets of the exposed data were later published for sale on the dark web, and that the company learned about the breach months after the affected personal information had already become publicly available. According to the attorney general’s office, 23andMe initially denied that a breach had occurred, and after confirming it, blamed consumers for how their accounts were configured and how passwords were used.
The multistate investigation, according to Paxton’s office, found that 23andMe engaged in what the office described as “unreasonable data security practices” and failed to implement adequate safeguards against hacking.
According to the office, the settlement incorporates privacy and cybersecurity requirements including enhanced data security standards, comprehensive risk assessments, and the creation of an independent advisory board. Compliance with applicable state privacy laws will be enforced without exception, and consumer data deletion rights will be preserved, according to the office. Paxton’s office said these requirements will apply to the TTAM Research Institute, now operating as the 23andMe Research Institute, as it continues operations.
“The 23andMe data breach was a serious failure to protect consumers’ privacy that exposed the genetic information of millions of people,” Paxton said in a statement. “Companies that collect and profit from Texans’ most personal information have a legal duty to protect it. This settlement sends a clear message that companies cannot cut corners on data security. It helps ensure stronger protections for consumers’ genetic information moving forward.”
Under Texas consumer protection practice, multistate settlements of this kind typically do not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by the settling company. A response from 23andMe or the 23andMe Research Institute was not included in the attorney general’s release.
Paxton Endorses House Resolution Affirming State Authority Over Border Enforcement
Paxton issued a public statement endorsing House Resolution 50, a resolution introduced by U.S. Representative Jodey Arrington (R-Texas, 19th District), which the resolution’s supporters describe as affirming the constitutional authority of U.S. states to defend themselves against border invasions.
According to Paxton’s office, H.Res.50 references Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which permits states to act when “actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.” The resolution also references Article IV, which the office described as placing an obligation on the federal government to protect each state against invasion.
According to Paxton’s office, the resolution’s supporters argue that when the federal government fails to meet that obligation, states retain an independent constitutional authority to act. Paxton’s office described the resolution as affirming the constitutionality of Texas Senate Bill 4, the state law that criminalizes illegal entry into Texas and authorizes state officers to arrest individuals suspected of unlawful entry. Paxton has previously defended SB 4 in federal court.
“H.Res.50 serves as a vindication of Texas’s actions to defend its borders and a repudiation of the Biden-era legal attacks against our state. Importantly, it is a step toward strengthening border security going forward,” Paxton said in a statement. “The Biden Administration allowed for the infiltration of illegal aliens and criminals into our country that led to an invasion-level border crisis. President Trump is doing tremendous work to save our country and secure our border. My office successfully defended SB 4, which protects Texas’s right to arrest illegals, protect our citizens, and enforce immigration law. I am in strong support of H.Res.50 as it further affirms that the Constitution’s Self-Defense Clause gives states an independent right to act when invaded, as Texas was under Joe Biden. When Texas joined the Union, it retained sovereign authority to defend its people and territory. I will stop at nothing to protect and preserve that right.”
“Attorney General Paxton has been on the front lines defending Texas’ constitutional authority to protect its citizens against the invasion and disaster at our southern border created by the Biden administration,” Arrington said in a statement. “While President Trump is vigilantly securing our border and enforcing our immigration laws, Congress must act now to ensure Texas and other border states are never again defenseless against the open-border Biden-era policies that flooded our state and nation with dangerous criminal aliens and deadly fentanyl. If the past is prologue, we know exactly what we can expect from future Democrat administrations that want to take us back to open-border lawlessness. That’s why I introduced H.Res.50—to ensure states like Texas are never again forced to be passive victims of a federal government that refuses to secure the border. I’m grateful to Attorney General Paxton for his bold leadership defending Texas’ sovereignty and for his strong support of H.Res.50. Congress should act now to ensure that no future administration can leave border states defenseless again.”
The constitutional interpretation supporting H.Res.50 — that Article I, Section 10 authorizes states to independently enforce immigration and border security when the federal government does not — has been the subject of extended legal debate. Texas’s SB 4 has been litigated in federal court, with courts issuing conflicting rulings, and the federal government under the previous administration had argued that immigration enforcement remains an exclusive federal responsibility. As a nonbinding congressional resolution, H.Res.50 would not itself change federal or state law if adopted; it would express the sense of the House on the constitutional question.
Source: Office of the Texas Attorney General
