Meta is pushing states to place the age verification onus on the app stores — rather than the apps themselves, such as Facebook and Instagram — as states move to regulate minors’ access to social media and other online downloads.
The idea has already been proposed at the federal level and was considered by Louisiana lawmakers this year. South Dakota lawmakers are preparing legislation for next year. And it could show up in a handful of other states in 2025 as well.
Meta’s embrace of app store age-verification legislation comes as the company faces growing scrutiny and legal issues over its social media platforms’ effects on youth. It introduced new teenager account protections last month.
Its stance puts it at odds with much of the tech industry, which generally opposes age verification requirements, and on a collision course with Apple and Google, operators of the two largest app stores.
“It’s like a bunch of trillion-dollar gorillas going after it and fighting,” said Joel Thayer, president of the Digital Progress Institute, a think tank that also backs the concept and has drafted model app store age verification legislation.
There has been a recent blitz of state laws requiring social media platforms to ascertain the age of users and require parental permission for teens to download their apps.
While several laws were blocked by tech industry lawsuits on First Amendment grounds, states including California, Florida and New York forged ahead this year to pass laws cracking down on the industry.
Meta says it makes more sense for app stores to play gatekeeper because they already have access to user information and are better equipped to verify a user’s age. The company points to support for the concept from other companies including Pinterest and Snap, as well as a poll it commissioned that showed broad support among parents.
The idea has also gained currency with tech influencers such as Kara Swisher and with the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board.
Earlier this year, Meta successfully pitched a Louisiana lawmaker on adding an app store age verification amendment to a youth data privacy bill. That provision was ultimately removed under fierce lobbying from Apple.
Meta also suggested legislative language to South Dakota legislators, according to Rep. Mike Weisgram (R), co-chair of a Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Regulation of Internet Access by Minors that is preparing legislation for next session.
“The app store age verification legislation that is possibly forthcoming isn’t a perfect solution, but it moves us in a positive direction and brings safeguards we don’t currently have now,” Weisgram told Pluribus News in an email.
He said he personally likes the concept of requiring age verification at the device level, rather than at the app store, which has also been discussed.
Earlier this month, Weisgram’s committee held a lengthy hearing on the proposed legislation that drew experts and industry leaders from throughout the country. Meta sent its global director for youth safety policy, Nicole Lopez, to South Dakota to testify in favor of the draft legislation.
“Parents are overwhelmed and rightfully want to understand what their kids are doing online, and we think that there is a better way to ensure that teens have consistent, age-appropriate experiences across all the apps that they are using,” Lopez told the committee.
The way it would work, Lopez explained, is app stores would verify the age of users and then require parental approval for teens under 16 to download apps. The app stores would also send a signal to the app maker about the minor’s age so the app could give them an age-appropriate experience.
Meta says parents already share age information with Apple and Google when they set up their child’s phone and that this approach, rather than verifying age app by app, would be more efficient and privacy protective.
“We’re not saying that this app store solution is the silver bullet, we’re saying that it is a really good place to start,” Lopez told the South Dakota legislators, adding that Meta and other social media companies would still be on the hook for protecting youth. “This is not just passing the buck to Apple and Google to do the work.”
App store legislation opponents include tech industry groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association, as well as the App Association, which represents app developers but also receives funding from Apple.
“We feel that it misses the mark,” said Caleb Williamson, state public policy counsel at the App Association. “There’s this presumption, and it’s false, that all developers and all app stores are social media companies or social media apps, and that is not the case.”
Tech industry opponents also cite constitutional and privacy concerns with age verification, and say it undermines parental authority and puts people’s data at risk.
Apple and Google did not respond to requests for comment.
Louisiana Rep. Kim Carver (R) said Apple acted forcefully this year when he added app store age-gating language to a bill barring social media companies from targeting ads at kids. Carver said a Meta lobbyist brought him the language and that when Apple found out, “It went from zero to 60 instantly.”
“When they learned that we had amended the bill to include the app store, they hired a number of lobbyists and they began to aggressively work the process. … And it took my breath a little bit,” Carver, a first-year lawmaker, told Pluribus News.
The Louisiana House passed the bill unanimously, but Carver later ceded to the Senate’s wishes to strip out the language. Carver, who has three teen and pre-teen daughters, said he has not decided whether to try again next year.
Thayer, of the Digital Progress Institute, which does not disclose its donors, said he is having conversations with several state legislators about introducing app store age verification bills next year. Unlike Meta’s approach, the institute’s model legislation would apply to teens up to age 18.
“I don’t see this going away, and I certainly don’t see it getting easier for Apple,” said Thayer, who previously worked for the App Association.