App Store Accountability Act Dies In House Committee

HB187, the App Store Accountability Act, was the subject of a public hearing Tuesday morning in the AL House State Government Committee.

HB187 passed the Senate on April 17 and was sent to the House, where it was referred to the State Government Committee.

Committee Chairman Chris Sells (R-Greenville) opened the Committee meeting by saying, “For seven years I've been dealing with children, and protecting children. Children are one of the most sacred things we have, and they’re the future. We protect them physically—we make ‘em wear helmets, we protect them physically on all kinds of ways. But, when it comes to the Internet and their cell phones, we don’t protect them at all. It’s time to start protecting these children, and doing what’s right.

“The App Store bill says that apps will have to be approved by the parent, and be age-appropriate for the child. So, that would take care of the phones that are already out there, and that’s what this is about, protecting children, and that’s what I’m all about,” Sells concluded.

Justin Hill, representing NetChoice, a “right-of-center trade organization for all the tech companies involved in this conversation,” spoke against HB187.

“This is a very noble cause,” Hill said. “All of our members agree that children need protection online. We all agree on ‘why’ but we disagree on the ‘how.’ NetChoice takes the position to protect the internet also, to be a place of free speech and free enterprise.

There are a lot of bills like the is that we’ve been working on around the country. I want to say there are seventeen states where this bill has been filed. They run afoul of the 1st Amendment.”

“We do a lot of work in this space. We have a litigation team that litigates a lot of similar bills. This bill has not made it to the point of litigation yet. But, what it boils down to is, it conditions your access to download a news app, a social media app, any information available through an app—it conditions that on you, your requirement of providing identification, and this has a chilling effect on speech.”

“Also, it would require you to prove that a child IS your child, as a matter of fact. I don’t know how you do that in the State of Alabama unless you require every Alabamian parent to provide a birth certificate for your child showing their name as the parent of that child.

“It also removes the parent from this conversation,” Hill continued. He described how in Florida, his children are required to have a yearly Internet safety course every year in grades 6-12 that shows them how to stay safe online. This course is also open to the parents in his school system, and “it was very valuable.”

“If parents aren’t involved, we won’t see the results we need to see,” Hill continued. He described how NetChoice partners like Apple and Meta are already actively working to protect kids. Hill pointed out that “right now, every parent in your state has the ability to voluntarily what this bill would do mandatorily.”

Chairman Sells responded by saying that “parental involvement is important, but when I got elected I found out one of the biggest problems with our school systems is the lack of parental involvement. So, we can’t say that the parents should take care of it because a lot of the time parents really don’t have the role in the child’s life they maybe should have.”

Melea Stephens, a Licensed Counselor with Wellspring Christian Center in Birmingham and Board Member of the National Center for Sexual Exploitation of Children spoke in favor of HB187.

“I’ve been working in this space to protect children from online sexual exploitation and early accidental exposure to hardcore pornography for about thirteen years,” Stephens said. “Primarily, I do this because of the cases I’ve seen in private practice—not only cases of children being harmed by accidental exposure, but also many cases of children being exploited on commonly-used apps marketed as safe for children, and being sex trafficked and exploited. I work with local law enforcement on these cases, and they’re very heartbreaking.

“This crucial legislation would put shared responsibility on device manufacturers and app developers. Apple and Google would be required to notify app developers when a device is activated for a minor. App developers would have to notify parents before permission is granted to download an app. App developers would be required to have accurate content age ratings, and app developers would be required to keep minor’s data private.

“Lead detectives here in Alabama with the SVU confirmed for me that over 90% of current child sexual exploitation cases happening in our State are occurring on commonly-used apps marketed as safe for children, and rated as safe for children. The App Store Accountability Act will close these loopholes to protect children on online spaces while also empowering parents to have accurate information when deciding which apps to offer their children.

“This is a crucial measure that Alabama parents and children urgently need and want. Recent local polling revealed that 83% of Alabama voters are in favor of the App Store Accountability Act, and recent national polling shows that an overwhelming majority of parents nationwide want to see this bill passed. In conclusion, SP187, the App Store Accountability Act would create a one-stop shop to empower our parents and protect Alabama’s children online. It would go a very long way to create a safe digital space for our children to grow up in,” Stephens finished.

Rep. Russell Bedsole (R-Alabaster) commented that, from the perspective of a parent, that his family had had to learn how to navigate the technology world. He shared the challenges of protecting children online, and his personal experience with using parental permission features. He stated that this bill takes that a step further, and pointed out that app descriptions are sometimes inaccurate. He specifically mentioned pop-up ads and chat features which would be inappropriate for younger children. “As a parent alone, I need some help,” because the technology is so complex, Bedsole said. He applauded the efforts to get a mechanism in place to protect children, whether or not this bill was the right way to do it, and thanked Mr. Hill for his willingness to be at the table as a representative of the tech industry going forward. He also thanked Ms. Stephens for her input.

Chairman Sells closed the meeting by stating his intent to work on the bill over the summer and return with a version of the bill next year. Lacking a quorum, the Committee did not vote in the bill, effectively ending any chance that it will pass this session.

The full text of HB187 may be found HERE.

The video of the hearing should be available soon on YouTube on The Alabama Channel.