Courts skeptical of online age verification laws

App store owners, though, are unlikely to just accept the new Utah online age verification law.

“These run into almost all of the same First Amendment problems as other proposals,” R Street Institute fellow Shoshana Weissmann told the Washington Examiner. “Unfortunately, some websites support these laws not out of principle but because it means less regulatory burden for them…”

Concerns around privacy and efficacy may also persist in proposed laws along the lines of Utah’s.

“One key issue is that these laws create legal complexity and privacy risk around something that already exists,” Weissmann wrote. “Parents can already require that their kids gain consent before downloading apps, and they can do so without having to give up any personally identifying information.”

Last year, Meta moved in advance of regulations by voluntarily introducing Instagram Teen Accounts that allow parents to control who can contact their teenagers and what content their minors can view…

At least eight more states are considering proposals similar to Utah’s new law. At the federal level, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) is expected to reintroduce similar legislation, titled The App Store Accountability Act, from the previous Congress.

“Unfortunately, there appears to be more appetite for these laws than there is for making sure the approach is sound and additive beyond existing technology,” Weissmann said. “I’m sure we’ll see more of this, but the courts have thus far not been kind to these kinds of approaches.”