A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Texas law that would have required Apple, Google, and other app stores to verify users' ages before granting access to digital content. The ruling is a victory for tech giants, who argued the law would infringe on privacy and create operational challenges.
The law aimed to enforce stricter regulations on content for minors by requiring parental consent for users under 18. While lawmakers and parent groups pushed for more protections, tech companies insisted that age verification should be handled by individual apps, not app stores. This ruling raises important questions about the balance between privacy and child safety in the digital age.
A report from The New York Times states that Judge Robert Pitman of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas determined that the App Store Accountability Act probably infringes on the First Amendment. The legislation mandates that app stores must use automated systems to ensure users under 18 get parental approval for downloading apps and making in-app purchases.
In his ruling, Judge Pitman made a striking comparison, likening the digital age-verification requirement to forcing a physical bookstore to check a customer’s age at the door and get parental consent before allowing a minor to browse or buy a book. "It restricts access to a vast universe of speech by requiring Texans to prove their age before downloading a mobile app... and requires minors to obtain parental consent," Pitman wrote.
The Texas decision has once more underscored the division within the tech sector regarding who should act as the 'gatekeeper' for child protection. Apple and Google have contended that gathering birth dates from all users would significantly invade privacy, proposing that individual apps should manage age verification. In contrast, companies such as Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, support a 'one-stop shop' method, where Apple and Google confirm age just once at the operating system level.
