(The Center Square) − The Louisiana House of Representatives unanimously approved legislation that would require app stores like Google Play and Apple’s App Store to verify a user’s age and obtain parental consent before allowing minors to download certain apps.
The bill passed with 99 votes in favor and none opposed.
House Bill 577 by Rep. Kim Carver, R-Mandeville, passed with several amendments after a similar provision was stripped from a broader bill last year following opposition from Apple. This year, the provision returned as a standalone bill — and is now drawing resistance from Google instead.
The bill would shift responsibility for verifying a user’s age away from app developers like Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, and place it instead on the platforms that distribute the apps. According to Google spokesmen Kareem Ghanem, developers such Meta would have less responsibility.
Under the bill, app stores must block access to certain applications for users under 18 unless parental consent is obtained. Apps that provide emergency services — including 911, suicide hotlines, or services operated by nonprofits and government agencies — are exempt from the restrictions and can be accessed without creating an account or providing personal data.
But critics argue the approach creates privacy risks without solving the underlying problems.
“There’s not enough attention on the real risks that these proposals create,” Ghanem said. “These bills would do nothing to address people’s concerns. And in the process, they’re letting Zuckerberg and Meta off the hook by providing this false sense of security that no amount of age verification at an app store level can really solve.”
Ghanem warned that app stores would be forced to collect age data from all users — not just minors — to comply with laws like Louisiana’s.
“That’s unnecessary, it’s an invasion of privacy, and it creates all kinds of problems for small and medium-sized businesses,” Ghanem said. “They don’t want to collect that data because it’s not relevant or necessary to providing a good experience — like, say, a weather app.”
Google has instead pushed for a “privacy-first” approach where app stores provide age signals only to developers that need them, and only with consent.
Meanwhile, companies like Meta, Snapchat, and X (formerly Twitter) have supported legislation similar to Louisiana’s.
In a letter obtained by Fox, the companies applauded Utah’s App Store Accountability Act — a model for Carver’s bill — saying, “Parents want a one-stop shop to oversee and approve the many apps their teens want to download, and Utah has led the way in centralizing it within a device’s app store.”
Louisiana’s bill includes provisions meant to limit data collection, allowing only what’s necessary to verify age and parental consent. It also bars developers from collecting additional information beyond what’s needed for normal business operations.
The measure now heads to the Senate, where it’s likely to face more scrutiny — and possibly more resistance from tech companies.