Meta Clashes with ESA, NetChoice on Ala. App Store Age-Verification Bill

The committee voted 7-1 to send SB-187 to the Senate floor, amending the bill to clarify that it includes a private right of action. Whereas another type of kids safety bill, passed or being considered by many states, puts the onus on social media companies like Meta to verify users’ ages, SB-187 would shift that burden to companies that sell apps and games.

“This bill that we have here is … being proposed by Meta,” Alabama lobbyist Knox Argo opened his testimony that opposed SB-187. Argo represents the Entertainment Software Association. The ESA's members include Amazon, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and Epic Games. “I always ask myself,” said Argo, “why does that company want it and not the other companies? I don’t know the answer to that question. I’ll leave that to y’all’s good wisdom.” The ESA lobbyist added that Louisiana, North Dakota and South Dakota lawmakers previously declined to pass similar bills.

Next up, a Meta lobbyist backed the bill. "The easiest, most accurate and most privacy-protective solution is to require app stores to verify ages and get a parent's approval anytime their teen under 16 wants to download an app,” argued Theresa Robertson, Meta southeast policy manager. “Apple and Google already collect the information when parents buy and set up their teen's phone, and they already have the infrastructure in place to get parental approval before teens can make an app purchase.”

Later in the hearing, the legislation received support from Digital Childhood Alliance, a group that announced its formation two days earlier. The alliance includes a variety of advocacy groups, from the National Center on Sexual Exploitation to the Heritage Foundation, author of Project 2025. John Read, the alliance’s senior policy counsel, pushed back on the claim about Meta’s involvement in the bill’s origins. “You heard that it's a Meta bill,” he said. “This is from a mom in Utah that worried about her kids."

Although Meta is a NetChoice member, the tech association opposed the app store bill due to First Amendment concerns about making all users prove they are adults. NetChoice, whose members also include Google and Amazon, has sued many states over laws that require age-verification by social media companies for the same reason.

ACT | The App Association opposes the bill on behalf of its small-business app developers, said Caleb Williamson, its state public policy counsel. The bill would force ACT members that make apps for adults to hold children’s data, he said. “That now ropes every single app developer into a child privacy compliance framework across the country, regardless of where they are, regardless of who they're serving, because of a bill that forces them to hold this data.” Also, since the Alabama bill would affect developers outside the state, the bill raises interstate commerce concerns under the U.S. Constitution, he said.

Also at the hearing, the committee voted 8-1 to support SB-186, which covers device filters. Alabama Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R) authored both bills. "What we're dealing with here today is a" situation "where kids can go to these stores and obtain things that their minds are not yet developed enough to handle," said Chambliss. "That's what these bills do. One is more geared toward the ... app store. One's more geared toward a filter and websites."

Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison (D) raised concerns about possible government overreach. "Parents have got to be parents,” she said. "The state cannot regulate morality ... Big Brother can't be in the home, overseeing everything." Also, she questioned making manufacturers liable when they don't know who's buying the phone.

Alabama Policy Institute CEO Stephanie Smith supported SB-186. "We're asking manufacturers to unhide existing filters and enable them automatically to protect our children."

NetChoice lobbyist Justin Hill opposed the bill, saying it’s not hard to find parental controls on devices. It may not be a good thing that the proposed law means parents won’t feel they have to talk to their kids about harmful content, he said. "A false sense of security would actually be devastating."

The House Children Committee held a hearing on the House version of the app store bill (HB-317) on Wednesday.