NC House Republicans Push Bill Requiring App Store Age Verification
House Republicans propose requiring Apple and Google app stores to verify users’ ages, with Meta’s backing, as part of broader child protection effort.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — A group of North Carolina House Republicans is advancing legislation that would require app stores to verify users’ ages before allowing downloads, expanding beyond traditional social media restrictions to create a comprehensive shield against online predators.
Rep. Jeff Zenger (R-Forsyth) announced House Bill 301 at a Thursday press conference, describing the current state of child protection on social media platforms as “the wild west.” The legislation would ban social media accounts for users younger than 14, while requiring parental consent for 14 and 15-year-olds to create or maintain accounts.
Meta Backs Expanded Approach
Zenger said Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and Threads, supports the bill and suggested the expanded approach that includes app store age verification requirements. The tech giant has been pushing responsibility for age verification onto Apple and Google app stores, according to Bloomberg reporting from last year.
“Apps have chat rooms or small social media platforms where predators are looking for children,” Zenger said, explaining the rationale for extending restrictions beyond traditional social media platforms.
Statewide Age Verification System Proposed
The North Carolina proposal includes creating an age-verification clearinghouse that would be funded by app stores themselves. Zenger described this approach as potentially serving as a model for other states.
Jennifer Hanley, Meta’s head of safety policy in North America, wrote in a recent opinion piece published in The Hill that federal legislation should “put parents in the driver’s seat by letting them approve their teens’ app downloads right in the app store.” She advocated for industry-wide age-appropriate content standards.
Legal Challenges Mount Nationwide
North Carolina’s effort comes as more than a dozen states have already passed social media age verification laws. However, federal judges have blocked some of those laws in constitutional challenges, raising questions about the legal viability of such restrictions.
The proposed age-verification clearinghouse would represent a departure from existing state approaches by centralizing the verification process and requiring app store participation. Under the current proposal, app stores would bear the financial responsibility for funding the verification system.
House Bill 301 aims to address what supporters see as gaps in current online safety measures that allow predators to access children through various digital platforms beyond traditional social media sites. The legislation reflects growing concern among state lawmakers about protecting minors in digital spaces.
The bill’s supporters argue that requiring age verification at the app store level would create a more comprehensive barrier to inappropriate content and predatory behavior than current platform-specific approaches.
