Lawmakers just advanced online safety laws that require age verification at the app store is currently attracting attention in the technology world.
Experts believe this development may influence how digital platforms evolve
over the coming years.
A package of child safety bills is headed to the House floor following an hours-long session that left Democrats and Republicans divided. On Thursday, lawmakers on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted to advance the Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act; Sammy’s Law; and the App Store Accountability Act, which would require app stores to introduce age-gating.
The KIDS Act, which is sponsored by Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY), encompasses several child safety laws. That includes a version of the latest House Republican update to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) without the “duty of care” provision central to the Senate’s bipartisan version of the bill, which requires big tech platforms to mitigate risks to minors.
Several Democrats opposed the law, arguing it would prevent states from strengthening online protections for young users. KOSA has been introduced in several forms over the past few years, but has repeatedly failed to pass.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said the KIDS Act uses child safety as a “smoke screen” for the desires of Big Tech lobbyists. “What big tech lobbyists want is a national surveillance program where they can harvest the private and personal data of every American with zero actual protections for people,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She also called out Discord, which pulled back its plans for age verification after facing fierce backlash from users over concerns about security and privacy, as well as its partnership with the third-party verification platform, Persona.
“[Discord] tried to roll out this idea of a data verification or an age verification technique, but they did it in this way that was also very emblematic of what we’re against here today,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “What’s more shocking is that Discord made the decision to move forward with this after they had been hacked, and at least 70,000 users had their data stolen.” Last year, Discord said a “small number” of government ID images were exposed as part of a hack affecting a third-party customer service provider, which it has since stopped using.
Other rules bundled in the package would impose age verification requirements for app store downloads and purchases, as well as when accessing adult content online. In addition to limiting companies from designing their platforms in ways “that result in compulsive usage,” the KIDS Act also includes a provision requiring AI chatbot-makers to inform minors that they’re talking to an AI platform, not a human. The KIDS Act passed the Committee with a roll call vote of 28 to 24.
The Committee similarly greenlit the App Store Accountability Act with a 26 to 23 vote, which would impose age verification requirements at the app store level, with the goal of preventing minors from downloading age-restricted content. It also signed off on Sammy’s Law, a bill that would require large social media platforms to give parents the ability to manage their child’s online interactions and account settings through a third-party tool. The House Committee didn’t hold a vote on the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) after the Senate’s Commerce Committee unanimously passed its version of the law.
Age verification at the app store level has become the subject of a heated battle between tech giants. While Meta and Spotify continue to advocate for app store-level age checks that would take some pressure off their services, the app store owners like Apple and Google are lobbying against that approach, which has shown up in states like Utah and Louisiana.
“Lawmakers continue spending time on bills that simply pass on the responsibility for child safety online entirely to parents, rather than pushing platforms to make their products safer for everyone,” Morgan Wilsmann, a policy analyst at the nonprofit think tank Public Knowledge, says in a statement. Wilsmann notes there are still some “bright spots” in the approved legislation, such as the bills that would force tech companies to make the design of their platforms safer for kids. “We hope Congress can push forward conversations around what actually perpetuates harms to kids online — namely, risky design features like live chat with strangers or endless scroll — rather than content young users may come across,” Wilsman says.
Lawmakers have taken a significant step toward strengthening online safety for minors by advancing legislation that would require age verification at the app store level. The proposed rules aim to ensure that children and teenagers are protected from harmful or inappropriate digital content before downloading apps.
Under the new proposals, major app stores operated by companies like Apple and Google would be required to verify a user’s age before allowing them to download certain applications. Developers would then receive age information from the app store to determine whether a user should be allowed to access their service.
Supporters of the legislation argue that placing responsibility on app stores simplifies the process and creates a single point of age verification rather than forcing thousands of individual apps to build their own verification systems. This could make online safety enforcement more consistent across platforms.
The laws are primarily aimed at protecting minors from risks such as exposure to adult content, social media addiction, cyberbullying, and data exploitation. Lawmakers say that clearer age controls will help parents better manage what their children can access online.
However, the proposal has sparked debate within the technology industry. Some companies and digital rights groups warn that mandatory age verification could raise privacy concerns, as it may require collecting sensitive personal information from users. Others worry that the rules could create additional barriers for smaller app developers.
If adopted, the legislation could significantly reshape how digital platforms manage access for younger users. App stores would effectively become the gatekeepers of age verification across the entire mobile app ecosystem.
The proposal still faces further legislative review and potential revisions before becoming law. But if passed, it would mark one of the most comprehensive efforts yet to introduce system-wide online safety protections for minors in the app economy.
Why This Matters
This development highlights the rapid pace of innovation in the technology sector.
Companies are constantly pushing boundaries in order to stay competitive.
Analysts suggest that such changes could influence future product design,
user expectations, and industry standards.
Looking Ahead
As technology continues to evolve, developments like this may shape the next
generation of digital services and consumer experiences.
Industry watchers will continue to monitor how this story develops and what
impact it may have on the broader technology landscape.