Texas Senate Bill 2420: Age Verification for App Stores by Apple and Google Awaits Governor Greg Abbott’s Signature

A bill that requires Apple and Alphabet’s Google to verify the age of users of their app stores could become law this week in Texas, putting the second-most-populous state in the US at the centre of a debate over whether and how to regulate the use of smartphones by children and teenagers.

Senate Bill 2420 would require app store owners to verify the age of the user of a device, and, if that user is below the age of 18, require parental consent to download apps or make in-app purchases. Utah was the first US state to pass a similar law earlier this…