Ala. Lawmakers Punt on App Store Age-Verification Bill

“We've got to have concerned [state] residents [at the table] ... but also we've got to have someone who represents the development of these apps ... because the technology behind it is so complex that, as a parent alone, I need some help,” said Rep. Russell Bedsole (R). “I applaud the efforts to get something out there to protect our children, whether or not this legislation was the right piece.”

Committee Chair Chris Sells (R) agreed that the bill's intent is important. “In the world we live in, children are, to me, one of the most sacred things we have, and they're the future,” he said. “We protect them physically in all kinds of ways. But when it comes to the internet and their cell phones, we don't protect them at all. And this is what this [bill] is about."

Introduced by Sen. Clyde Chambliss (R), SB-187 would require app stores to check users’ ages before downloading an app, make sure it is age-appropriate, or get parental consent.

NetChoice lobbyist Justin Hill testified against the bill. Protecting children online is a “noble cause,” but conditioning access “to download a news app, a social media app, any information available through an app" [on a user] "providing identification ... has a chilling effect on speech,” he said. “Also, it would require you to prove a child is your child as a matter of fact. And I don't know how you do that in the state of Alabama, unless...you require every Alabamian parent to provide a birth certificate of their child, showing their name as the parent of that child.”

Age verification by app stores won't protect minors, Hill said. “Children can still go to their web browser and download or access social media. This is only [for] mobile devices, so they will find a way.” NetChoice prefers bills in other states aimed at educating kids about online dangers, he said. Under legislation like that, “the government would be partnering with parents and making sure they're involved in this conversation, because if parents aren't involved, we won't see the results that we need to see."

Sells said he was skeptical. “When I first got elected, I found out the biggest problem with our school system is a lack of parent involvement,” he said. “We can't say that the parents should take care of it, because a lot of times, parents really [don’t] have a role in the child's life that they should have… Going forward, I hope we can come to an agreement to get something done with this.”

Melea Stephens, board member of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, supported the bill. “We do not allow minors to go into a bank and sign a contract because they cannot comprehend the risk involved,” she said. “The App Store Accountability Act is based on contract law,” and “would create a one-stop shop to empower our parents and protect Alabama's children online. It would go a very long way to creating a safer digital space for our children to grow up in.”

Sells and Bedsole said that navigating this legislation can be a challenge, and they appreciated the testimony. “It's time to start protecting children, and we want to do everything we can,” Sells said. “We're going to work on this this summer, and we're going to come back with something next year.”