Texas governor signs law to enforce age verification on Apple, Google app stores

Meta declined to remark for this communicative [File] | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Texas Governor Greg Abbott connected Tuesday signed into instrumentality a measure requiring Apple and Alphabet's Google to verify the property of users of their app stores, putting the second-most-populous U.S. authorities astatine the halfway of a statement implicit whether and however to modulate smartphone usage by children and teenagers.

The law, effectual connected January 1, requires parental consent to download apps oregon marque in-app purchases for users aged beneath 18. Utah was the archetypal U.S. authorities to walk a akin instrumentality earlier this year, and U.S. lawmakers person besides introduced a national bill.

Another Texas bill, passed successful the Texas House of Representatives and awaiting a Senate vote, would restrict societal media apps to users implicit 18.

Age limits and parental consent for societal media apps are 1 of the fewer areas of wide U.S. consensus, with a Pew Research canvass successful 2023 uncovering that 81% of Americans enactment requiring parental consent for children to make societal media accounts and 71% enactment property verification earlier utilizing societal media.

The effect of societal media connected children's intelligence wellness has go a increasing planetary concern, with dozens of U.S. states suing Meta Platforms and the U.S. Surgeon General issuing an advisory connected safeguards for children. Australia past twelvemonth banned societal media for children nether 16, with different countries specified arsenic Norway besides considering caller rules.

How to instrumentality property restrictions has caused a struggle betwixt Meta, the proprietor of Instagram and Facebook, and Apple and Google, which ain the 2 ascendant U.S. app stores.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said past twelvemonth during a U.S. Senate proceeding that helium believed parents should not "have to upload an ID oregon impervious they are a genitor successful each azygous app that their children use. The easier spot to bash this is successful the app stores themselves."

Meta declined to remark for this story.

Child online information groups that backed the Texas measure person besides agelong argued for app store property verification, saying it is the lone mode to springiness parents effectual power implicit children's usage of technology.

"The occupation is that self-regulation successful the integer marketplace has failed, wherever app stores person conscionable prioritized the nett implicit information and rights of children and families," Casey Stefanski, enforcement manager for the Digital Childhood Alliance, told Reuters.

Apple and Google opposed the Texas bill, saying it imposes broad requirements to stock property information with each apps, adjacent erstwhile those apps are uncontroversial.

"If enacted, app marketplaces volition beryllium required to cod and support delicate idiosyncratic identifying accusation for each Texan who wants to download an app, adjacent if it’s an app that simply provides upwind updates oregon sports scores," Apple said successful a statement.

Google and Apple each person their ain proposals that impact sharing property scope information lone with apps that necessitate it, alternatively than each apps.

"We spot a relation for authorities here," said Kareem Ghanem, elder manager of authorities affairs and nationalist argumentation astatine Google, told Reuters. "It's conscionable got to beryllium done successful the close way, and it's got to clasp the feet of Zuckerberg and the societal media companies to the fire, due to the fact that it's the harms to kids and teens connected those sites that's truly inspired radical to instrumentality a person look present and spot however we tin each bash better."

Published - May 28, 2025 09:11 americium IST