Utah is poised to move an age verification legislation for app shops

Utah has as soon as once more handed a invoice that makes an attempt to put new limits on youngsters’s means to entry social media and different apps. The state legislature handed a invoice that requires app retailer makers to confirm the ages of customers and get parental consent for the downloading of apps. Ought to the governor signal the invoice into legislation, it could be (as The Verge factors out) the primary such measure within the nation.

The Beehive State has beforehand tried to limit how youngsters can use social media. The state handed two legal guidelines in 2023 that imposed age verification and parental permission necessities onto social media corporations. These legal guidelines have been later revised amid authorized challenges, and a Utah decide blocked them from taking impact final fall.

The “App Retailer Accountability Act” takes a unique strategy. It places the burden on app shops (particularly, Apple and Google) to conduct age verification and parental permission slightly than particular person social media platforms. Unsurprisingly, Meta and different social media corporations have lengthy most well-liked the app store-centric strategy to age verification.

On Wednesday, Meta, Snap and X issued a uncommon joint assertion praising the Utah measure. “Dad and mom need a one-stop store to confirm their baby’s age and grant permission for them to obtain apps in a privacy-preserving method,” the businesses stated. “The app retailer is the very best place for it, and greater than 1 / 4 of states have launched payments recognizing the central function app shops play. We applaud Utah for placing mother and father in cost with its landmark laws and urge Congress to comply with swimsuit.”

Apple and Google to date haven’t publicly weighed in on Utah’s invoice, although we’ve reached out to each for remark.

Given the controversy surrounding earlier makes an attempt to impose age verification necessities on platforms, the Utah invoice will probably face authorized challenges if and when it’s signed into legislation. Even so, different states are prone to comply with Utah’s lead on this difficulty. At the very least eight extra states are contemplating comparable measures.

This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/utah-is-poised-to-pass-an-age-verification-law-for-app-stores-000542476.html?src=rss