Lawmakers just advanced online safety laws that require age verification at the app store
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TL;DR
- The House Committee on Energy and Commerce voted to advance the KIDS Act, Sammy's Law, and the App Store Accountability Act.
- The KIDS Act includes provisions for age-gating, parental controls, and AI chatbot transparency for minors.
- Democrats expressed concerns that the KIDS Act, particularly the removal of the 'duty of care' provision, might hinder states' ability to strengthen online protections for minors.
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the KIDS Act, calling it a 'smoke screen' for Big Tech lobbyists and a potential national surveillance program.
- The App Store Accountability Act would require age verification for app store downloads and purchases of age-restricted content.
- Sammy's Law would mandate that large social media platforms offer parents tools to manage their child's online interactions and accounts.
- There is a conflict between app store owners (Apple, Google) and other tech companies (Meta, Spotify) regarding the implementation of app store-level age verification.
- Some policy analysts believe the bills too heavily shift the responsibility for child safety to parents, while acknowledging positive aspects in platform design improvements.