STORY: Texas is poised to pass a bill that would require Apple and Alphabet’s Google to verify the ages of their app store users.
The pending legislation puts the second most populous state at the center of a debate over whether and how to regulate the use of smartphones by children and teenagers.
The bill, currently awaiting Governor Greg Abbott’s signature, would require parental consent for those under 18 to download apps or make in-app purchases.
Apple and Google, owners of the two largest app stores, oppose the legislation, saying it imposes blanket requirements to share age data with all apps, even when those apps are not controversial.
They have proposed sharing age range data only with apps that require it.
How to implement age restrictions has caused a conflict between the two companies and Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last year during a Senate hearing that parents shouldn’t have to (quote) “upload an ID or proof they are a parent in every single app that their children use,” adding that “the easier place to do this is in the app stores themselves.”
Meta declined to comment for this story.
Utah was the first state to pass a similar law earlier this year, and U.S. lawmakers have also introduced a federal bill that would require app stores to verify the ages of users nationwide.
Google, Apple, app store, app stores, Governor Greg Abbott
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