A proposal to more efficiently verify the age and parental consent of children’s app downloads drew a big crowd to the Alabama House’s child and senior advocacy committee meeting today. 

Companion legislation, known nationwide as the App Store Accountability Act, would require app stores like Apple and Google to verify users’ ages and obtain parental approval before anyone under 16 can download an app.

“Children, we put them in cars, we obey speed limits, we put seat belts on, and we put them in child seats. We do different things to protect our children,” State Rep. Chris Sells (R-Greenville), the bill’s House sponsor told the committee on Wednesday. 

“And that’s what we’re doing here today. And this is an avenue of one of these mechanisms, and these apps, everything on your phone – if you took the apps off your phone, it would be nothing but a phone. So when you go to the App Store, that’s where everything comes from. So we think that’s the place to regulate it, because that’s how it gets from the internet to your child.”

A public hearing was held on the issue for the first time today – but it’s an idea that is currently sweeping state legislatures across the country – which is the reason behind today’s showing in committee. 

Representatives from Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, joined parents and advocates speaking in favor of the proposal during the hearing. 

“Parents, myself included, are overwhelmed and want to understand what their kids are doing online,” Nicole Lopez, Global Director of Youth Safety Policy of Meta, told lawmakers. 

“We believe the easiest, most accurate and most privacy protective solution is to require app stores to verify ages and to get a parent’s approval any time their teen under 16 wants to download an app. This solution has been formally introduced in 12 states in 2025 and more are expected further.”

“This is what parents want,” she said. 

In a rare show of force among direct competitors, Meta is teamed up on the issue with fellow social media giants X and Snap, Inc. 

They wrote a letter addressed to members of the Alabama House committee, arguing that parents want a “one-stop-shop” to verify their child’s age before they download apps. 

If passed, the new law would place the responsibility of age verification on app store providers like Apple and Google, rather than the many thousands of individual developers who create the apps themselves.

Opponents to the bill spoke out against potential privacy and legal issues with the implementation of the law — which would impact developers worldwide.

“We look at the technical aspects of the bill, because this bill requires every single developer on the App Store to be pinged with age data from the app providers,” said Caleb Williamson of the App Association, which is funded by Apple.

“This now ropes in developers from all over the country, and not just in the state. We do have some concerns that this is over broad. We do believe that there are some solutions that I think, provide a proper solution, which is requiring the verification at the closest, the closest to the harms that are out there.”

Apple and Google do not want the responsibility of enforcing age verification across all apps, arguing that forcing the app store to verify ages would lead to excessive data sharing with virtually every app a user downloads, and insisting that each app should verify user ages individually to ensure compliance.

According to a Wall Street Journal report published this morning, “At least nine states, including Utah and South Carolina, recently proposed bills that would require app-store operators to check the ages of users and get parental consent before letting minors download apps. More than 60 child-safety advocates are forming a new coalition to push for passage of app-store age-verification laws nationwide.”

“In addition to Utah and South Carolina, South Dakota, Alaska, Kentucky, Alabama, New Mexico, West Virginia and Hawaii have all introduced legislation in the past two months taking aim at app stores,” WSJ reported.

In today’s hearing, lawmakers on the committee seemed warm on the idea, but indicated amendments were forthcoming. State Rep. Tim Wadsworth (R-Arley) and State Rep. Mary Moore (D-Birmingham) said they’d like Sells to consider changes when the committee meets again.

“If educational efforts were enough, I could sit down my children once, twice, maybe three times, they’d get it and would be done. We know that’s not how children think. That’s why they need parental protection. So I appreciate you bringing the bill,” State Rep. Tracy Estes (R-Winfield) said.

The committee did not hold a vote today. A Senate-version of the bill is being carried by State Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville).

“This is just the first committee hearing,” Rep. Sells said. “Utah is going to do the final vote on the floor I think on Wednesday, and the other states are moving, so there’s no way we’ll be the first state. This is the first step in the process,” he said.

“This is going to take a while for this to go through the system here, and so we will not be the first state.”