A tech industry group has filed suit in U.S. District Court in Utah to stop the state from enforcing a law requiring app distributors like Google and Apple to verify users’ ages and then block minors under 18 from downloading apps without parental permission.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) argues the App Store Accountability Act unconstitutionally “imposes a broad censorship regime on mobile apps.” The lawsuit claims the law violates First Amendment rights and acts as a “blockade” to lawful speech.
“Our Constitution forbids laws that require businesses to ‘card’ people before they can enter bookstores and community theaters,” the group wrote in its filing. “And the First Amendment prohibits such oppressive laws as much in cyberspace as it does in the physical world.”
Utah passed the law — SB142 — in March 2025, and the age verification provisions went into effect in May 2025. Additional key provisions of the act — including a requirement for app stores to share age information with app developers — are slated to take effect this May. The new law was sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross.
The CCIA, which represents companies including Amazon, Google and Meta, asserts that the law is “vague and unworkable” and that similar measures have already been blocked in other states, such as Texas.
“For example, a 14-year-old cannot purchase the audiobook version of The Giver from Audible until her parent or guardian approves the purchase,” the group writes. “If her parent or guardian is too busy or refuses to approve the request, or cannot adequately prove legal authority, the minor would be blocked entirely from listening to the John Newbery Medal-winning novel.”
The CCIA filing, which names Utah Attorney General Derek Brown and the director of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, continues, “Verification methods generally ask users to upload a government-issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, or input credit card information. This will, at best, deter users (many of whom do not wish to disclose this type of sensitive information to app stores) from accessing the tremendous amount of expressive and informational offerings within the app stores and from engaging in the protected speech and knowledge-seeking they facilitate.”
Texas and Louisiana have both passed similar statutes, and federal lawmakers have introduced comparable national legislation.
CCIA and a student group called Students Engaged in Advancing Texas sued over that state’s law and obtained an injunction late last year blocking its enforcement. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman in Austin ruled in that matter that the Texas statute may have “some compelling applications” but is too broad to be constitutional. “Nothing suggests Texas’s interest in preventing minors from accessing a wide variety of apps that foster protected speech (such as the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, Substack, or Sports Illustrated) is compelling,” the Texas judge wrote in his opinion.
Texas has appealed the injunction ruling to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Under Utah’s App Store Accountability Act, signed by Gov. Spencer Cox last March, app store providers shall “at the time an individual who is located in the state creates an account with the app store provider, request age information from the individual; and verify the individual’s age category using: (A) commercially available methods that are reasonably designed to ensure accuracy; or (B) an age verification method or process that complies with rules made by the division under Section 13-75-301.” If a minor tries to open an account, the app store will direct them to link the account to their parent’s account.
X, Snap and Meta released a joint statement following passage of the act by the Utah Legislature, praising the “one-stop shop” appeal of the Utah law: “The app store is the best place for it, and more than a quarter of states have introduced bills recognizing the central role app stores play. We applaud Utah for putting parents in charge with its landmark legislation and urge Congress to follow suit.”
Instagram has also promoted the app store age verification laws by placing ads in support of the provision with various news sites.
Google and Apple have lobbied against passage of any legislation that puts the onus of verification on the app store providers. In a recent blog post, Google argued that the state should look beyond the legislation, citing privacy and safety risks associated with sharing children’s age information with all developers, as required under the act.
“One example of concerning legislation is Utah’s App Store Accountability Act,” Google said. “The bill requires app stores to share if a user is a kid or teenager with all app developers (effectively millions of individual companies) without parental consent or rules on how the information is used. That raises real privacy and safety risks, like the potential for bad actors to sell the data or use it for other nefarious purposes.”
Google’s preference would be to put the age-related responsibilities back on the developers.
“Because developers know their apps best, they are best positioned to determine when and where an age-gate might be beneficial to their users,” Google’s post says. The company vowed to work with legislators nationwide to develop alternative laws.
The debate over age verification legislation is not limited to Utah and Texas. Similar legislation has been introduced in other states, including Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Kentucky, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia.