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Texas bill requires parental consent for app downloads

under 18

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Apple ( AAPL ), Google oppose bill citing privacy concerns

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Meta suggests app stores handle age verification

(Updates with governor signing the bill into law, adds

effective date in paragraph 2)

By Stephen Nellis

SAN FRANCISCO, May 27 (Reuters) -

Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday signed into law a bill

requiring Apple ( AAPL ) and Alphabet's Google to

verify the age of users of their app stores, putting the

second-most-populous U.S. state at the center of a debate over

whether and how to regulate smartphone use by children and

teenagers.

The law, effective on January 1, requires parental consent

to download apps or make in-app purchases for users aged below

18. Utah was the first U.S. state to pass a similar law earlier

this year, and U.S. lawmakers have also introduced a federal

bill.

Another Texas bill, passed in the Texas 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 apps are

one of the few areas of wide U.S. consensus, with a Pew Research

poll in 2023 finding that 81% of Americans support requiring

parental consent for children to create social media accounts

and 71% support age verification before using social media.

The effect of social media on children's mental health has

become a growing global concern, with dozens of U.S. states

suing Meta Platforms and the U.S. Surgeon General issuing an

advisory on safeguards for children. Australia last year banned

social media for children under 16, with other countries such as

Norway also considering new rules.

How to implement age restrictions has caused a conflict

between Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, and Apple ( AAPL ) and

Google, which own the two dominant U.S. app stores.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last year during a U.S. Senate

hearing 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 story.

Child online safety groups that backed the Texas bill have

also long argued for app store age verification, saying it is

the only way to give parents effective control over children's

use of technology.

"The problem is that self-regulation in the digital

marketplace has failed, where app stores have just prioritized

the profit over safety and rights of children and families,"

Casey Stefanski, executive director for the Digital Childhood

Alliance, told Reuters.

Apple ( AAPL ) and Google opposed the Texas bill, saying it imposes

blanket requirements to share age data with all apps, even when

those apps are uncontroversial.

"If enacted, app marketplaces will be required to collect

and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every

Texan who wants to download an app, even if it's an app that

simply provides weather updates or sports scores," Apple ( AAPL ) said in

a statement.

Google and Apple ( AAPL ) each have their own proposals that involve

sharing age range data only with apps that require it, rather

than all apps.

"We see a role for legislation here," said Kareem Ghanem,

senior director of government affairs and public policy at

Google, told Reuters. "It's just got to be done in 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 harms to kids and

teens on those sites that's really inspired people to take a

closer look here and see how we can all do better."