Apple and Google lobbyists reportedly urged lawmakers in Arizona, Georgia and Kansas to consider children’s online-safety bills that would require age checks while limiting private lawsuits tied to those rules and leaving enforcement to state attorneys general. The reported lobbying came to light on October 4, 2026; the state legislative activity described took place earlier that year.
What Apple and Google lobbyists reportedly sought
The proposed alternatives would pair age checks for app downloads with limits on private lawsuits over those requirements. Instead of allowing individuals to sue app stores under the proposed rules, enforcement would be left to state attorneys general. The proposals largely relied on users to state their own ages.
Two approaches to age checks and enforcement
Versions of the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA) would put age-verification duties on app stores, using commercially available methods, and require parental consent before minors download apps or make purchases. Some versions would also let individuals sue app stores for violations.
| Approach | Age checks and consent | Private lawsuits and enforcement |
| App Store Accountability Act versions | App stores verify ages and obtain parental consent before minors download apps or make purchases. | Some versions allow individuals to sue app stores for violations. |
| Reported alternatives backed by Apple and Google lobbyists | Proposed checks for app downloads would largely rely on users stating their own ages. | The proposals would bar private lawsuits under these rules and leave enforcement to state attorneys general. |
An Arizona draft called the Mobile Ecosystem Responsibility Act (MERA) spelled out that division: it gave the state attorney general exclusive enforcement authority and said the bill could not provide a basis for individuals to sue. The draft was one proposal, not an enacted law.
What happened in Arizona, Georgia and Kansas
Arizona’s legislative activity began with an ASAA version introduced on January 27, 2026. A lobbyist who said he worked with Apple and Google circulated the MERA draft on January 30. In mid-February, a Google lobbyist presented revised Arizona text modeled on California’s Digital Age Assurance Act.
In Kansas, a bill modeled on the ASAA was introduced in January 2026. The Kansas Chamber of Commerce suggested changes in February that would bar individual lawsuits under the bill and leave legal action to the state attorney general. On February 17, Georgia’s Senate considered an ASAA version at a committee hearing; a Google lobbyist offered a senator alternative language similar to MERA.
By October 4, 2026, the legislative sessions in Arizona, Georgia and Kansas had ended without a governor signing an age-verification bill.
Privacy, responsibility and child safety
Apple raised concerns that some age-check proposals could require people downloading apps to provide sensitive personal information. Google argued that some competing proposals would shift responsibility away from platforms and require app stores to share children’s personal data with third-party apps.
Meta supported putting age verification at the app-store level. The company’s spokesperson, Andy Stone, argued that this could spare parents from navigating different requirements across multiple apps. Child-safety advocates, meanwhile, warned that minors could get around self-attestation by misstating their birth dates.
