Utah has once again passed new restrictions on children’s ability to access social media and other applications. The state legislature passed a bill requiring app store manufacturers to verify users’ age and obtain parental consent to download the app. If the governor signs the bill into law, it would be (e. edge ) The country’s first measure.
The Beehive country has previously tried to restrict how children use social media. The state passed two laws that would file age verification and parental licensing requirements with social media companies. The laws were later challenged in legal challenges, with Utah deciding that they did not take effect last fall.
The App Store Accountability Act takes a different approach. It makes the burden of the App Store (i.e. Apple and Google) with age verification and parental licensing, rather than a single social media platform. Not surprisingly, Meta and other social media companies have adopted an App Store-centric approach.
Meta, Snap and X posted rare measures to praise Utah on Wednesday. “Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their children’s age and grant them permission to download apps in a private way,” the companies said. “The App Store is the best place, with more than a quarter of states already introducing bills to recognize the central role of the App Store. We praise Utah for putting parents in charge of their landmark legislation and urge Congress to follow suit.”
So far, Apple and Google have not publicly weighed Utah’s bills, although we’ve contacted both.
Given the controversy surrounding previous attempts to impose age verification requirements on the platform, the Utah bill could face legal challenges if it was signed into law. Even so, other states may follow Utah’s leadership on this issue. At least similar measures are being considered.
