By Reuters
SAN FRANCISCO: Texas governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed into law a bill requiring Apple and Alphabet's Google to verify the age of users on their app stores, placing the second-most-populous US state at the centre of a debate over whether, and how, to regulate smartphone use by children and teenagers.
The law, which comes into effect on Jan 1, requires parental consent to download apps or make in-app purchases for users under the age of 18. Utah was the first US state to pass a similar law earlier this year, and US lawmakers have also introduced a federal bill.
Another Texas bill, passed in the House of Representatives and awaiting a Senate vote, would restrict social media apps to users over 18.
Age limits and parental consent for social media use are among the few areas of broad consensus in the US, with a 2023 Pew Research poll showing 81 per cent of Americans support requiring parental consent for children to create social media accounts, and 71% support age verification prior to use.
The impact of social media on children's mental health has become a growing global concern, with dozens of US states suing Meta Platforms and the US Surgeon General issuing an advisory on child safety measures. Australia last year banned social media access for children under 16, and countries such as Norway are also considering new regulations.
How to implement age restrictions has caused tension between Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, and Apple and Google, which operate the two dominant US app stores.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a US Senate hearing last year that he believed parents should not "have to upload an ID or proof they are a parent in every single app that their children use. The easier place to do this is in the app stores themselves."
Meta declined to comment for this report.
Child online safety groups that supported the Texas bill have long advocated app store-based age verification, arguing that it is the only effective way to give parents control over their children's use of technology.
"The problem is that self-regulation in the digital marketplace has failed, where app stores have prioritised profit over the safety and rights of children and families," said Casey Stefanski, executive director of the Digital Childhood Alliance, speaking to Reuters.
Apple and Google opposed the Texas bill, arguing that it imposes blanket requirements to share age data with all apps, even those that are uncontroversial.
"If enacted, app marketplaces would be required to collect and retain sensitive personal information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it's just for weather updates or sports scores," Apple said in a statement.
Google and Apple have proposed alternative approaches that involve sharing age-range data only with apps that require it, rather than across the board.
"We see a role for legislation here," said Kareem Ghanem, senior director of government affairs and public policy at Google. "It's just got to be done the right way, and it's got to hold the feet of Zuckerberg and the social media companies to the fire, because it's the harm to kids and teens on those sites that's really driven people to take a closer look and see how we can all do better."
Source : texas-governor-signs-law-requiring-app-stores-verify-user-age