US judge blocks Texas app store age law meant to protect children

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Reuters

5h


WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday blocked Texas from enforcing a new state law aimed at protecting children by requiring app stores and developers to verify the age of users, in a win for Apple , Alphabet's Google and other technology companies.

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin issued a preliminary injunction against the state’s App Store Accountability Act, finding the measure likely violates the U.S. Constitution's speech protections under the First Amendment.

The law, which was set to take effect in January, would require parental consent to download apps or make in-app purchases for users aged below 18. Pitman’s ruling was a win for the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which sued to stop the law.

The order was a setback to Texas and its efforts to regulate smartphone use by children and teenagers, part of a broader crackdown by some U.S. states to combat potentially harmful effects of social media on young people. Australia this month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16. The Texas attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/us-judge-blocks-texas-app-store-age-law-meant-to-protect-children/ar-AA1SUXZG

[AZJonnie]

1. Smartphones have parental control features that allow parents to block app downloads w/o their password

They also have features that allow parents to monitor damn near EVERYthing their kids do on their phones. Parents can see what apps they've downloaded (with immediate notifications, if kids aren't password blocked from doing so), which ones they're using, etc. They can also monitor every conversation with third party apps like Bark that sit on the phone and notify parents if they're talking about things like drugs, bullying, suicide, sex, etc on any installed app, SMS, emails, etc. And obvious they can know where the kids phone is in the world at all times that it's turned on.

So, I'm of two minds on this one, but I lean towards thinking parents should be activating these features and keeping track of their young un's rather than rely on app stores to police who downloads what.

[reACTIONary]

2. Thanks for the background information.....

.... I tend to think it's the parent's responsibility, if they are given the means to be so.