State lawmakers stake positions on complicated US age assurance map

The primary question in discussing age verification laws and other online safety measures continues to be, “Is it possible to regulate the Internet?” The answer is yes – ask a bank – but the legislative mechanics of doing so for what we call “content” are proving to be more complicated than matters of dollars and cents.

This is particularly true in the U.S., where states make their own laws, and a huge variety of moral and cultural viewpoints collide. The issue of free speech is sacrosanct for many, but what makes material “harmful to children” is vague at best, meaning debates over age verification tech tend to be skewed by political allegiances.

Apple flogs Declared Age Range API as Texas solution

Texas has found itself at the center of the U.S. age assurance movement, having brought the issue of age checks for pornographic websites all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court – and won. Now, the Lone Star State is preparing to roll out a new state law that would make age verification mandatory for users in Texas when creating a new Apple Account.

A statement from Apple voices the firm’s objection to the law, which kicks in on January 1, 2026. “While we share the goal of strengthening kids’ online safety, we are concerned that SB2420 impacts the privacy of users by requiring the collection of sensitive, personally identifiable information to download any app, even if a user simply wants to check the weather or sports scores.”

The suggestion from the Silicon Valley giant is that age assurance will explode all over the internet, gumming up all the freedom. Apple is not wrong to raise the concern – the case of Wikipedia in the UK is evidence enough of that – but it is being used in service of Apple’s larger agenda, which is to minimize its role in implementing biometric age assurance technology to avoid risk, liability and costs.

Nonetheless, Apple is doing what Texas asks. “All new Apple Accounts for users under the age of 18 will be required to join a Family Sharing group, and parents or guardians will need to provide consent for all App Store downloads, app purchases, and transactions using Apple’s In-App Purchase system by the minor,” says the post.

“This will also impact developers, who will need to adopt new capabilities and modify behavior within their apps to meet their obligations under the law.”

In tech, every roadblock is an opportunity, so Apple has developed an array of in-house tools to help facilitate compliance with age check laws. The Declared Age Range API, which allows parents to approve an age range for their kids which can then be shared with developers, was introduced in February; Apple says it will get an update “in the coming months” that integrates the Texas rule.

On top of that, “new APIs launching later this year will enable developers, when they determine a significant change is made to their app, to invoke a system experience to allow the user to request that parental consent be re-obtained.” Parents can also revoke consent.

Apple notes that similar requirements to Texas’ will come into effect next year in Utah and Louisiana.

Kentucky AG says Roblox is fertile ground for extremists, predators

With more than 380 million monthly users, many of them young, Roblox has been a target for many parents and lawmakers who accuse the social gaming platform of enabling predatory behavior. In August, the state of Louisiana filed a lawsuit against the company on those grounds.

Now, Kentucky has picked up the axe. State Attorney General Russell Coleman has launched what a release calls a “major lawsuit” against Roblox, calling it “a playground for predators and international organizations with links to terrorist organizations to distribute child sexual abuse material.”

“Our children are not safe on Roblox,” says Coleman, who describes himself as a “pro-life, pro-family conservative Republican.”

“Predators and criminals aren’t just lurking in the platform’s shadows; they’ve been allowed to commit their crimes out in the open. For years, Roblox has ignored this crisis so it could continue turning a profit. Our responsibility is to protect Kentucky children from online exploitation by these predators and the companies like Roblox that knowingly facilitate it.”

Per the complaint, “It is not uncommon for players to find themselves in violent or sexual situations within the Roblox universe, with parents reporting children contacted by strangers using third-party chat apps that function as if they are part of the game, chat conversations involving adult elements such as violence or rape, children’s avatars being subjected to violent sexual episodes inflicted by other avatars, and children’s avatars wandering into areas of Roblox dedicated to cyber sexual activity including avatars depicted without clothes and with exaggerated physical features.”

The release cites the case of a 25-year-old Kentucky man with “ties to an extremist sextortion group called 764,” who pled guilty of plotting to “groom, extort, threaten, and even conspire to kill children as young as eight years old using various online platforms,” including Roblox.

Coleman accuses Roblox of violating Kentucky’s Consumer Protection Act, alleging “unjust enrichment, negligence, and a failure to warn parents and kids of the platform’s dangers.” He wants the company to be penalized up to 2,000 dollars for each “willful violation.”

The accusation is that “Roblox has steadfastly refused to address its role as the ‘playground’ where pedophiles pretend to be children in order to make initial contact with victims and build rapport with them.” The complaint specifically points out Roblox’s lack of robust age verification measures.

Last month, Roblox announced that it was implementing age estimation from Persona, as part of a larger strategy that also incorporates ID age verification and verified parental consent, planned to be in place by the end of 2025. It has talked a big game about the program, which also replaces in-house ratings with jurisdictional ratings systems worldwide. The firm believes its “approach to communication safety” will “become best practice for other online platforms, whether lawmakers pass laws requiring age verification for all platforms in the future or not.”

Kentucky is not having it.

“The fact that Defendants have stated that they are exploring making such a feature available to younger users demonstrates that, far from prioritizing safety, Defendants’ real focus is protecting their bottom line,” says the complaint. It also accuses Roblox of running a paid influence campaign in the media to paint a rosy picture of the plan.

Ohio AG threatens lawsuits for noncompliance

Ohio’s Attorney General is also talking tough on age assurance. Dave Yost says nineteen out of the twenty porn sites his team visited as part of a review did not have age assurance in place, putting them in violation of Ohio’s law, which took effect on September 30.

The AG has sent out Violation Letters and given the platforms 45 days to comply, or face penalties, according to a release.

“It’s time for these companies to explain why they think they’re above the law,” Yost says.

Age assurance is not prohibition

There is more fear that age assurance laws are pushing randy users to resort to “sketchier porn sites.” So says Vice, in a dismissive piece that compares the effort to legislate the internet to the prohibition era in the U.S.

“Remind me again: during prohibition in the United States, did the consumption of alcohol cease completely? Was there not a drop of mash liquor to be found anywhere in the United States?”

It’s a dumb analogy, because porn is not banned, and we don’t let kids drink alcohol.

Still, there’s truth to the idea that determined people will always find their way around an obstacle. Yet, if a sketchy porn site accrues enough users to be noticeable, enforcement will likely find them. The game will continue, as the question of how to regulate sexy pixels crosses the U.S.

Article Topics

age verification  |  app stores  |  biometric age estimation  |  children  |  Kentucky  |  Ohio  |  Roblox  |  Texas  |  United States