By Gavin Boyle
As lawmakers become more concerned with enforcing age verification laws across the internet, big tech is fighting over who should be liable for these checks.
“Parents want a simple, manageable way to verify their child’s age and review the apps their teens want to download. The most sensible and effective place for age verification is a the OS/app store level,” Meta and Snap said in a joint letter earlier this year.
“We want all young people to be supported and protected online. Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their child’s age before they download apps,” the letter continued. “The best way to achieve this is…to require a simple, secure, industry-wide solution at the OS/app store level that puts parents in charge.”
In an effort to shift the burden, social media companies are calling for Apple and Google, who host their respective app stores, to verify users’ ages before they download an app. Meta, Spotify and Match Group (the owners of Tinder and Hinge) have formed a new political coalition to lobby for this to be written into law, absolving them of any requirements.
Related: Meta, Snap Support Social Media Age Verification Laws
“Age-based content restrictions are most effective at the app store level because it is where apps are purchased, and the app store already has the age data,” the coalition’s website reads.
Apple and Google, however, believe it should be on the social media sites to verify a user’s age, as they have a better ability to collect data to catch those lying about how old they are. Furthermore, as age-verification laws continue to be passed, these companies will have to create age-verification systems for other ways to access their sites, such as desktop, so there is no reason they shouldn’t be liable for mobile users as well.
But, Apple is already taking steps to be the arbiter of age verification with plans to implement new developer tools, such as the ability to disable certain app settings until users verify their age, allowing developers to better control a user’s specific experience. Apple is also introducing a way for parents to share their children’s age, helping stop underage users from lying about their age or finding workarounds.
While these systems from Apple will help in the age-verification battle, ultimately, social media platforms should have some accountability as well, rather than making Apple and Google entirely responsible and acting like there is nothing they can do on their end.
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