Apple and Google Are Lobbying for Child Safety Laws That Can't Touch Them

Key Takeaways

• According to Politico, Apple and Google lobbyists are actively pushing state lawmakers to adopt kids' online safety laws that would require age checks for app downloads — but bar private lawsuits, leaving enforcement only to state attorneys general.
• The lobbying effort is a direct response to the App Store Accountability Act, which would require app stores to verify users' ages and expose Apple and Google to individual lawsuits if they fail.
• Meta is on the opposite side, supporting the ASAA — partly because it shifts liability for age verification from social media platforms to app stores.
• Child safety advocates describe Apple and Google's proposed bills as "phantom child safety legislation that has no real teeth," relying on self-declared age rather than actual verification.
• Versions of the ASAA have already passed in Utah, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama. Arizona, Georgia, and Kansas considered it this year, but their sessions ended without a governor's signature.

Every company in this story is publicly committed to protecting children online. What they're actually fighting about is who pays when that protection fails.

Here's the situation in plain terms. States have been passing laws requiring platforms and app stores to verify users' ages and keep minors away from age-inappropriate content. If a company violates those laws, someone needs to be able to enforce them. The question is who, and that question has billions of dollars riding on it.

The App Store Accountability Act (ASAA), supported by child safety advocates and introduced in multiple states, would require app stores — Apple's App Store and Google Play — to verify users' ages before they download apps, and would allow individuals to sue app stores if they fail to do so. That means if a child downloads a harmful app because the age check didn't work, the family can take Apple or Google to court.

Apple and Google don't want that. According to Politico, their lobbyists have been circulating alternative bill text in Arizona, Georgia, and Kansas that would require age checks but remove the private right of action — meaning only state attorneys general could enforce the law, not individual families. One draft bill reviewed by Politico explicitly stated that nothing in it "shall be interpreted to serve as the basis for a private right of action."

Why the Enforcement Mechanism Is the Whole Story

This distinction matters enormously, and it's easy to miss in the headline version of the story.

A law that requires age verification but can only be enforced by a state attorney general is a very different thing from one that individuals can enforce. Attorneys general have limited resources and prosecutorial discretion — they pick their battles. Private lawsuits are how individuals with specific harms get specific accountability. The billions Meta has paid in settlements and judgments came through exactly this mechanism: families and state attorneys general suing a company for harm caused to a specific child.

Apple and Google's proposed bills would create the appearance of accountability while removing its most effective instrument. Child safety advocates are aware of this. One, quoted anonymously by Politico, called the Apple and Google proposals "phantom child safety legislation bills that have no real teeth."

The bills Apple and Google are promoting also largely rely on users self-declaring their age, which means a teenager can simply enter a false birthdate and bypass the check. The ASAA, by contrast, requires commercially available verification methods. That's a weaker protection than biometric verification but stronger than a checkbox.

Where Meta Fits and Why It's Backing the ASAA

The most striking part of this story is Meta's position. Meta — the company that has paid tens of billions in settlements over harm to children — is supporting the App Store Accountability Act. Why? Because the ASAA shifts the age verification obligation to app stores rather than platforms. If the app store is responsible for verifying age before a child downloads Instagram, Meta's liability for what happens afterward changes significantly.

This is a fight between tech companies about which layer of the stack bears the legal risk. Child safety is real, and the harm to children documented in years of litigation is real. But the lobbying battle is not primarily about how to protect children most effectively. It's about who gets sued when protection fails.

What's Actually Passed, and What Hasn't

Versions of the ASAA have passed in Utah, Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama — meaning app stores in those states face legal exposure for age verification failures, including from private lawsuits. That's why Apple and Google are working so hard at the state level: each state that passes the ASAA is another jurisdiction where individual families can take them to court.

Arizona, Georgia, and Kansas all considered age verification legislation this year. All three sessions ended without a governor's signature on a bill. In each case, according to Politico, Apple and Google lobbyists were in the room offering alternative text that would have removed private enforcement.

On the federal level, the Parents Over Platforms Act would require app stores to verify ages and obtain parental consent before minors download certain apps. Sen. Andy Kim has brought a bill mirroring California's approach to Congress. Neither has passed. The action is at the state level, which is exactly why Apple and Google's state lobbying operation matters.

The bills Apple and Google are pitching may still produce some child protection. Age checks, even imperfect ones, create friction. But a law you can't be individually sued for violating is a law with a much lighter incentive to comply with — and Apple and Google know that better than anyone.