Louisiana sees age assurance legislation battle between Big Social, Big App Store

In Louisiana, age verification legislation finds itself stirred up like a spicy gumbo. Bills regarding age assurance for adult content online are being pushed and pulled through the legislative process, as lawmakers argue for the protection of children and look to impose safeguards at multiple levels, while First Amendment advocates and Silicon Valley lobbyists continue to mount court challenges.

HB 570 heads to the governor amid concerns about privacy

Louisiana House Bill 570, which requires app stores to implement age verification to prevent minors from accessing adult content, has been sent to the state governor for executive approval.

The bill is not popular with certain industry groups, who argue the proposed law could compromise user privacy and doubt its ability to deliver consistent results. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), for instance, has issued a statement sharing its concern that requiring users to submit personal identification would mean collecting more private information.

Tom Mann, state policy manager for CCIA, says that “every age verification method involves trade-offs among privacy, accuracy, and cost – especially for smaller platforms and startups. Facial age estimation tools are not yet consistent across all groups, and asking families to hand over more personal data is a big ask with real privacy implications. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution here, and Louisiana should proceed with caution.”

Google takes aim at Zuckerberg

HB 570 originally only required stores like Google Play and Apple’s App Store to perform age assurance, as is the case in Utah following the passage of a related law. Minors would be required to acquire parental consent for all downloads. In May, however, NOLA.com reported that the bill had been expanded to also require all app developers to build age assurance into their apps, and obtain parental consent for minors to use their apps.

The provision came through an amendment by state Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, who says it would place equal responsibility on app stores and app developers alike.

Kareem Ghanem, Google’s senior director of government affairs and public policy, counters that not all apps on app stores are equal in terms of age-sensitive content. As such, forcing all apps to include age assurance puts an unnecessary and unfair burden on developers of, say, an app that lets users create music. He says the bill “requires us to share way more data than is actually needed to keep kids safe.”

More pointedly, in Google’s view, it lets the social media titans off the hook.

“Why is Mark Zuckerberg so keen on passing these bills?” he asks. “And the answer’s clear. It’s because it doesn’t do anything to change how his business operates, and it creates this false sense of security by saying were going to age verify everybody on the app stores, we’re going to share that data with everybody. But in reality, does it change anything on Instagram? It doesn’t.”

NetChoice aiming to stymie age assurance law for social media

Meanwhile, NetChoice, the association backed by some of the world’s biggest and wealthiest tech firms – including, somewhat ironically, both Meta and Google – has been pushing against the Secure Online Child Interaction and Age Limitation Act (SB162), which is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

The National Law Review explains that the act “requires social media companies subject to the law” – that’s platforms with more than 5 million account holders worldwide – “to obtain express consent from parents or guardians for minors under the age of 16 to create social media accounts.” It also requires social media companies subject to the law to “make commercially reasonable efforts that are reasonably designed to ensure accuracy to verify the age of Louisiana account holders,” and prohibits targeted advertising based on collecting data from minors.

The bill is driven by research showing that extended time on social media platforms can lead to poor mental and physical health in teens, including depression, body-image issues, eating disorders and higher rates of suicide.

NetChoice’s petition, filed March 18 in the U.S. Middle District Court of Louisiana, asks a federal judge to strike down the state law before it takes effect, and to move toward a permanent injunction. As usual for NetChoise, the argument is ostensibly that age assurance measures violate First Amendment rights.

But the petition also calls out the limitation of age assurance law to sites of a certain size, noting that “if the government is concerned about minors accessing social media websites due to particular purported risks or harms of doing so, it makes no sense to allow minors to be exposed to such alleged harms so long as that exposure occurs on websites that have less than five million account holders.”

Among NetChoice’s association members are 38 social media platforms, including Meta, Snapchat, Lyft, Reddit, Pinterest, and Elon Musk’s X. (Short term rental sites and hotel booking sites are also well-represented.)

SB162 also includes restrictions on data collection, limiting it to only data necessary to verify age and parental consent. And, adult social media users will be prohibited from sending direct messages to teens unless they’re already connected on the platforms.

Federal court records show that NetChoice and attorneys for the state have reached a case management schedule for discovery and expert reports that extends to December 19 – and that  Louisiana officials have agreed to delay enforcement of the new law until then.

Article Topics

age verification  |  app stores  |  data privacy  |  digital ID  |  legislation  |  Louisiana  |  Netchoice  |  social media