H.R. 6333: Parents Over Platforms Act

This bill, known as the Parents Over Platforms Act, aims to create standards and responsibilities for mobile application distributors and developers regarding the protection of minors in the digital environment. It focuses on ensuring that apps are appropriate for different age groups and that parents are provided tools to manage their children's access to certain content.

Key Provisions

1. Age Assurance Responsibilities

Under the proposed legislation, Application Distribution Providers (such as app stores) would be required to:

• Ask users to verify their age when creating accounts.
• Employ reasonable methods to determine users' age categories.
• Allow parents to prevent their children (classified as Minors, under 18) from accessing certain applications.
• Facilitate communication of age information between themselves and developers.

2. Obligations for Developers

Developers of applications that target minors or provide different experiences based on age would have specific obligations, including:

• Reporting whether their apps provide a different experience for adults and minors or are solely for adults.
• Ensuring minors cannot access adult-only features or content without parental guidance.
• Blocking personalized advertising to minors.
• Obtaining parental consent before allowing access to content deemed unsuitable for minors.

3. Liability Limitations

The bill provides protections for Application Distribution Providers and developers from legal liability if they make a good faith effort to comply with age verification processes. This includes:

• Not being liable for incorrect age signals if they followed appropriate procedures.
• Not being held responsible for the actions of developers using their apps.

4. Enforcement Mechanism

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would be responsible for enforcing the provisions of the act, treating violations as unfair or deceptive practices. The FTC would have the same powers as under the Federal Trade Commission Act to pursue compliance.

5. Preemption of State Laws

This legislation would override any conflicting state laws regarding the same subject matter, establishing a uniform standard across the U.S. for applications affecting minors.

6. Effective Date

The act is set to take effect no later than 24 months after its enactment.

Relevant Companies

• AAPL (Apple Inc.) - As a major Application Distribution Provider through the App Store, Apple's practices regarding age verification and app content suitability would need to comply with this new legislation.
• GOOGL (Alphabet Inc.) - Owning the Google Play Store, Alphabet would be responsible for ensuring that apps distributed via its platform adhere to the new age assurance practices.
• FB (Meta Platforms, Inc.) - As a developer of numerous applications utilized by minors, Meta would need to adjust its age verification and content moderation practices to comply with the new rules.