PIERRE — South Dakota lawmakers advanced a bill Wednesday that would require mobile app stores to verify the ages of users, a move proponents say is necessary to protect children online, while opponents warn of privacy concerns and potential legal challenges.
House Bill 1275 passed the House State Affairs Committee 8-3 and now heads to the full House for consideration. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. John Hughes, R-Sioux Falls, would compel app stores to implement age verification measures, obtain parental consent for app downloads by minors, and display age ratings for apps.
“It establishes guardrails at the digital gateway,” Hughes said, arguing the bill would “give parents of minor children a simple, private way to maintain their kids safer online.”
This is the second attempt by South Dakota legislators to address age verification for apps. A similar bill failed to pass last year, according to the South Dakota Searchlight. However, the legislative landscape has shifted, with four states – Texas, Utah, Alabama, and Louisiana – now having endorsed similar measures, a point emphasized by Norman Woods, a lobbyist for Family Voice Action.
“The Legislature wasn’t comfortable going in first, but now there are four,” Woods testified in support of the bill.
The bill has garnered support from the South Dakota Attorney General’s office, Concerned Women for America, and the South Dakota Catholic Conference. However, it faces opposition from major players in the tech industry, including Apple and Google, which operate the dominant app stores in the U.S.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has voiced support for the legislation. The company argues that app stores are better positioned to protect children, as they already control access to apps and often possess credit card information for age verification.
Opponents, including Doug Abraham, a lobbyist for The App Association, argue the bill represents an overreach. Abraham likened requiring age verification for app stores to requiring it for entry into a shopping mall with a liquor store, suggesting it’s an inappropriate level of restriction. He similarly raised concerns about data privacy, stating the proposal would necessitate app stores collecting more personal information, potentially requiring all South Dakotans to submit state-issued IDs to access apps.
“It’s going to force you, if you wish to employ your iPhone, or you want to use your Android-based device, to do that, even though you’re 18, even though you’re a consenting adult,” Abraham said.
Kouri Marshall, a lobbyist for the tech coalition Chamber of Progress, characterized the bill as “a tremendous encroachment on individual privacy” and predicted it would lead to costly legal battles for the state. She pointed to Alabama, which recently passed a similar bill and is already facing a lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations.
“Alabama is going straight to court,” Marshall said, urging South Dakota lawmakers to “wait and see how this plays out in court, so that you don’t complete up there.” Florida and Mississippi previously rejected similar app-based age gating proposals, she added.
Rep. Leslie Heinemann, R-Flandreau, countered these concerns, arguing that the potential legal fees are justified if the bill protects children from harmful content or online predators. He drew a parallel to a previous bill requiring age verification for adult websites, which he said was well-received by parents.
Rep. Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, voiced opposition, citing her own experience with parental controls. She described receiving an alert when her 13-year-old searched for information about former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, suggesting existing tools are already effective.
Healy was one of three committee members who voted against advancing the bill to the full House.
