Meta, Snap and X are throwing their lobbying weight behind an app store age verification bill in South Dakota, marking the first time the top social media companies have teamed up to back state-level youth online safety legislation.
The move sets up a potential standoff with Apple and Google, which operate the two largest app stores. Apple helped kill a similar bill in Louisiana last year.
In a joint letter to South Dakota legislators Tuesday, when a public hearing on the bill was scheduled, the social media companies said the “most sensible and effective place for age verification” is at the app store level.
“We all want young people to be supported and protected online,” the letter said. “Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child’s age before they download apps. The best way to achieve this is for policymakers in South Dakota to require a simple, secure, industry-wide solution at the OS/app store level that puts parents in charge.”
Besides South Dakota, app store bills have been introduced this year in Alaska, Hawaii, South Carolina and Utah, where the Senate passed a bill this month. Measures to require age verification at the device level have been introduced in Illinois and New Mexico.
The push by Meta, Snap and X to put the onus on app stores to verify user ages comes as state lawmakers across the country have introduced and passed bills to require social media companies to age-gate their platforms. The tech industry has fought those measures on constitutional grounds and won several injunctions to block them from taking effect.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads, says it has advocated since 2023 for app stores to handle age verification and parental consent for minors under 16 years old to download apps. The South Dakota bill would apply to minors up to age 18.
Meta’s director of youth safety policy, Nicole Lopez, in prepared testimony supporting the South Dakota bill, said age verification at the app store level “can help ameliorate constitutional concerns.”
The South Dakota bill from Sen. Sue Peterson (R) would require app stores to verify user ages and obtain parental permission for minors to download or purchase apps or make in-app purchases. App stores would have to provide app makers with age category data for users in South Dakota and the status of parental consent. App developers would also be required to notify app stores whether their app is likely to be accessed by minors.
The law, which would take effect in January 2026, would give parents the right to sue for alleged violations and harm to their child.
Apple and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The App Association, which represents app makers and has received funding from Apple, submitted a letter of opposition to the South Dakota bill that said it “poses several legal and constitutional concerns.” The letter also said the bill “shields known bad actors in children’s and youth privacy … by shifting their responsiblity for user safety away from them and only onto the app stores.”
Meta’s Lopez pushed back on the idea that Meta is trying to “push responsibility off to Apple and Google.”
“[W]e will continue to use AI and age verification checkpoints to catch the age liars — there will just be fewer age liars,” her prepared testimony said.