On Wednesday, Utah became the first state in the country to pass legislation mandating that app stores verify users’ ages and get parental consent for certain activity on minors’ accounts.
The controversial App Store Accountability Act, which will now head to the desk of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, has pitted app store giants Google and Apple against social media companies like Meta and is part of a wave of similar proposals that have been introduced in a number of states, including Texas and Alabama.
The bill received broad support from the social media platforms that have borne the brunt of criticism for failing to protect children online. Those platforms have long argued that app stores themselves ought to take on more responsibility to shield kids from harmful apps. In a statement provided on behalf of Meta, Snap, and X, a Meta spokesperson applauded Utah for “putting parents in charge” with the passage of the law. “Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child’s age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way,” the statement reads. “The app store is the best place for it.”
App stores, of course, see things differently. Google declined Fast Company’s request for comment, and Apple didn’t respond. But Chamber of Progress, a tech advocacy group that represents both companies, has come out forcefully in opposition of the legislation. In public ">testimony and writing platforms, the group has accused the bill of infringing on the First Amendment rights of Utah’s citizens and violating their privacy by forcing app stores to collect sensitive data in order to verify ages. Chamber of Progress has argued the law would require companies to collect even more data than they already do.
In a statement to Fast Company, Chamber of Progress’s government relations senior director Robert Singleton suggested a legal battle would inevitably follow if the bill is signed into law. Indeed, another law in Utah that attempted to require social media platforms to verify users’ ages was blocked in court last year on First Amendment grounds. Similar social media age-verification laws in other states have also been blocked, but that has not deterred states, including Utah, from approaching the issue from a new angle. And yet, Singleton predicted, “The same thing is likely to happen here. This bill invades everyone’s privacy and forces even adults to share sensitive data just to use their own devices.”
Utah state representative Jim Dunnigan, who sponsored the bill in the State House, says parent groups were a significant force in getting the legislation over the finish line. “This is at least partly driven by parents who are concerned about the adult contacts that their children have available to them,” he says. “Parents aren’t always there, and their kids are curious. We’re trying to protect them until they get older.”
One leading child advocacy group that has been circulating the bill across the country as model legislation is the Digital Childhood Alliance. In a statement, the alliance’s founding chair Melissa McKay said, “The momentum behind this issue is growing, and today’s victory is a testament to the urgent need for accountability from the platforms that shape the digital lives of children.”
In addition to requiring app stores to verify ages and get parental consent every time a child wants to download or purchase something on an app, the bill would require app stores to share age categories and consent data with developers. It would also enable minors or their parents who have been harmed to file a civil suit against app stores. Utah’s governor was supportive of the social media age-verification law that was blocked, and according to Rep. Dunnigan, Governor Cox is expected to support this new bill as well.
If that happens, it seems unlikely the app store giants will go down without a fight. A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed how Apple’s lobbying blitz in Louisiana helped kill a similar attempt to regulate the App Store. In the meantime, the company appears eager to send a message that it’s prepared to implement changes without regulation. Last week, in apparent anticipation of the law’s passage, Apple announced a slew of new child-safety offerings, including giving parents the ability to share their children’s ages in the App Store—information that is then passed on to app developers.
That’s a welcome step, says Rep. Dunnigan, but “we need consistency across all platforms, and that’s what this bill tries to accomplish.”
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