Apple is hitting back in the war over internet age-gating

Apple CEO Tim Cook personally intervened in an attempt to stop a Texas age verification bill, The Wall Street Journal reports. SB 2420 — passed by the legislature but awaiting a signature by Gov. Greg Abbott — would require app store operators like Apple to verify the age of users accessing their stores. The company’s opposition puts it in conflict with social media giant Meta in an escalating fight over whether and how the internet should be age-gated.

In a statement to The Verge, Apple expressed its opposition to the bill. “We share the goal of strengthening kids’ online safety but are deeply concerned that SB 2420 threatens the privacy of all users. If enacted, app marketplaces will be required to collect and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it’s an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores,” says spokesperson Peter Ajemian.

As the Journal notes, several states have proposed sweeping age verification measures, at least nine of which specifically place the burden for checking ages on app stores; one state, Utah, has such a law already passed. These measures are frequently accompanied by plans to ban minors from accessing social media, either without parental consent or entirely, as in a Texas law that’s on the verge of passing. Texas, among other states, already requires age verification for adult websites; the law implementing that requirement has become the center of a Supreme Court battle over age verification that’s expected to be resolved in the coming months.

According to the Journal report, Cook and Abbot had a “cordial” conversation in which Cook asked for either amendments to or a veto of the bill. An Abbott spokesperson told the outlet that the governor will “thoughtfully review this legislation, as he does with any legislation sent to his desk.”

Civil liberties advocates staunchly and consistently oppose mandating digital age-verification systems, which tend to either pose significant privacy problems or be ineffectual. But over the past couple of years, the fight has evolved into a game of ping-pong between web services and device makers.

Meta and some others — including the Free Speech Coalition, which filed the suit against Texas’ porn age-verification law and represents the operators of adult websites — support making companies like Apple and Google build age-check systems into their products. Both phone makers already offer voluntary parental control systems, but a legal requirement would create substantial risk for them in the case of failure, on top of privacy concerns for users themselves.

Apple’s statement on SB 2420 instead pushed for the passage of the Kids Online Safety Act: a federal bill that would place liability on web platforms to prevent young users from harm. Google, meanwhile, has reportedly backed lobbying against both bills — as owner of the Android operating system and video platform YouTube, it’s stuck in the middle.