With a new administration on the horizon, 2025 promises to be an eventful year for all policy areas—tech included. You don’t have to be a trend forecaster to know that much of tech policy will center around artificial intelligence (AI). In 2024 alone, hundreds of artificial intelligence (AI) regulation bills were filed and passed. However, other trends have emerged more quietly. This year has marked a growing push from legislators for app stores to verify the age of their users.

App store age verification is one of several approaches recommended by those who hope to solve the youth online experience through legislation. 2024 marked an urgent effort to keep kids safe online through regulation. The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) garnered much of the spotlight in this effort at the federal level. Originally proposed in 2022, the bill has been rejected and revamped several times and epitomizes the follies of this well intentioned approach. KOSA aims to protect children, but instead infringes upon the privacy of its users and threatens free speech. Currently, KOSA is stalled and it appears that voices of reason will prevail. House Speaker Mike Johnson has prudently observed that the bill has some “very problematic details” that could lead to unintended consequences. However, a new batch of bills is ready to take the torch.

The App Store Accountability Act was introduced in Congress in November. Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee authored the bill that would make it easier for parents to sue over material their children encounter online, as well as requiring all users to verify their age through submission of government-issued identification before purchasing apps. Much like KOSA, the positive title of the bill conceals a bureaucratic headache that simply cannot live up to the purported values of keeping children safe and fostering an online environment of accountability. On the state level, similar legislation is being introduced. This month, a bill of the same name was prefiled in South Carolina. The South Carolina “App Store Accountability App” promises to be the first of several state bills of similar persuasion.

The federal bill would involve users turning over sensitive personal information to the app stores. If a user is identified as a minor, the app stores would then be responsible for flagging them as such to apps. The app developers would then have a duty to respond to this information through offering an age-appropriate version, parental controls, or other restrictions.

The bill author, Mike Lee, laid out the additional legal burdens imposed by the Act. “First, this bill creates a private right of action for parents and guardians against app stores that expose their children to pornographic content and extreme violence. That means these companies can be sued. App stores can protect themselves from liability by enforcing age verification and parental controls.” In short, if a child encounters inappropriate content, whether through a messaging app, a search engine app, or something else entirely, parents can sue. A flood of litigation and red tape is certain. Empowered parents who are involved in protecting their children from the perils of modernity? Not so much.

App developers and the app stores would have troves of data on all users, from the elderly to children. Identity theft and data breaches are legitimate risks, particularly because apps and app stores often have to outsource verification techniques to third parties. Furthermore, kids can download apps and access inappropriate content through a variety of mechanisms.

Placing massive legal burdens on app stores and subsequent app developers will not prevent children from accessing unsafe material; it will only prevent developers and private companies from working in coordination with the demands of the market to create a sustainable and realistic solution. Over recent years, the free market has risen to help parents protect their children online. Apps have developed parental control features, software platforms have mechanisms that allow caregivers to monitor their children, and groups like Common Sense Media and the Competitive Enterprise Institute have compiled resources to support families. Unlike KOSA, these tools can educate and empower parents and caregivers to effectively create a safe environment, rather than giving them a false sense of security that the government will protect their children from the woes that can accompany internet use.

Preventing children from accessing harmful content online is a worthwhile mission. The digital age is a difficult time to navigate for families. Thankfully, app developers and motivated innovators have risen to the challenge and continue to develop solutions that suit families’ needs. Attempting to shelter children from harm by tying the hands of the companies that have the manpower and resources to actually help spark change is both shortsighted and a slippery slope.