Jody Serrano
Editor in chiefEditor in Chief at Xataka On. Before joining Webedia, I was a tech reporter at Gizmodo and The Messenger. While I've covered all sorts of things related to technology, I'm specialized in writing about social media, Internet culture, Twitch, and streamers.
Beginning next year, people in Texas will have to show Apple and Google their IDs if they want to download any kind of app from their app stores—no exceptions.
The Texas App Store Accountability Act. After being passed by the Republican super-majority in the Texas Legislature, the law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday.
The law is part of a slew of efforts in Texas and across the U.S. to better protect children online. In particular, this law will require Apple and Google to verify the ages of device users before they download any apps from their app stores.
Under the law, children under 18 will have their app store account linked to the one owned by their parent or guardian, who will have to approve any app downloads and in-app purchases. Notably, parents or guardians will also have to provide documentation that proves they’re authorized to make decisions on the child’s behalf.
The app stores aren’t happy. As mentioned above, the Texas law puts the onus of verifying users’ ages on app stores, mainly Apple and Google. Although both say it’s important to protect children online, they were not fans of the law in its final form.
Apple, for example, pushed back against the idea of having to collect personal information from millions of users. Last week, CEO Tim Cook personally called Abbott to request changes to law or, if that wasn’t possible, a veto from the governor, The Wall Street Journal reported. Cook’s effort obviously wasn’t successful.
On the other hand, Google has argued that the law doesn’t hold social media apps accountable for the harms they’ve caused to minors.
"We see a role for legislation here," Kareem Ghanem, the senior director of government affairs and public policy at Google, told Reuters in a statement. "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 harm 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."
Meta, Snap, and X supported the law, calling it a “one-stop shop” and the “best place” for age verification.
Second in the nation. The Texas law is the second of its kind in the nation. Earlier this year, Utah passed the App Store Accountability Act, which went into effect on May 7.
That law also putted app store operators against social media apps. Although lawmakers in the state recognized the harms caused by social media apps, some stated that children may not understand the terms of services presented by apps and therefore can’t agree to them.
“For the past decade or longer, Instagram has rated itself as friendly for 12 year olds,” Utah Republican state Sen. Todd Weiler, the bill’s sponsor, said hearing in January. “It’s not.”
A domino effect? Texas and Utah aren’t the only states considering these types of age verification laws. Similar measures are being considered in California, Kentucky, and West Virginia, and more than a dozen other states.
However, as noted by the Journal, the fact that the law passed in the second most-populated state in the U.S. with a Republican government could indicate that similar laws from others states aren’t far off.
These laws would mean new costs for Google and Apple, as well as for app developers, which will potentially have to adapt to different laws across the country.
Image | Laurenz Heymann