Apple, Google and Meta Back Competing State Age-Verification Bills

Competing Approaches to Age Checks

Apple, Google, and Meta are backing different legislative frameworks across U.S. states to shape how online platforms verify users' ages. The proposals come as states move to enact youth online safety requirements.

According to a Politico report aggregated by Techmeme, Apple and Google have pitched state bills centered on self-attestation rather than stricter verification systems. Their proposals also include protections intended to prevent private lawsuits against companies over compliance failures.

Meta Targets Mobile App Stores

Meta is backing state legislation that would shift responsibility for age verification from individual applications to the mobile app stores operated by Apple and Google. Under this approach, marketplaces would verify a user's age before a download.

The framework would relieve app developers of separate age-verification mandates. It also creates a clear contrast with the self-attestation approach outlined in bills supported by Apple and Google.

Platform Responsibility and Compliance

The competing efforts reflect a clash between the commercial and regulatory interests of mobile operating system gatekeepers and social media platforms. The legislation would determine which parts of the online ecosystem are responsible for checking users' ages.

Apple and Google's proposals focus on lighter self-attestation procedures combined with legal protections. Meta's approach would instead place age checks at the app-store level, creating a different distribution of compliance duties among platforms, marketplaces, and app developers.

Sources: Real Hacker News · The Tech Street Now