- Association representing Apple, Google sued Utah Thursday over its App Store Accountability Act.
- Lawsuit claims Utah age verification requirements violate right to protected free speech.
- The group paused a similar Texas law. But Utah's law has key differences that could ensure it survives.
One of the largest industry associations in the country sued Utah on Thursday over the state’s second attempt at requiring age verification for tech companies when dealing with users who are minors.
The Computer & Communication Industry Association, representing members like Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, alleged that Utah’s App Store Accountability Act would violate their First Amendment rights.
In a complaint filed to the U.S. District Court of Utah, the association argues the U.S. Constitution prohibits laws that require ID to access free speech or that disrupt interstate commerce without an important interest.
“App stores and app developers already provide parents with tools to help them control what their children can access on their mobile devices,” the suit says, “thereby preserving parental choice without burdening access to protected expression for everyone.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed the App Store Accountability Act in March 2025, making Utah the first state to require app stores to verify the age of users and to notify legal guardians when minors try to download an app.
The child-protection statute was crafted to avoid the legal problems that held up the state’s similarly unprecedented 2023 age verification law, which a judge paused in September 2024 over constitutional concerns.
“As always, the Office of the Utah Attorney General will vigorously defend state law against legal challenges,” said Attorney General Derek Brown, who is named in the lawsuit along with consumer protection director Katherine Hass.
Utah’s App Store Accountability Act mirrors legislation introduced by Utah Sen. Mike Lee in Congress, which was proposed by a coalition led by Utahn Melissa McKay, who has pushed for similar legislation in several states.
By focusing on consumer protection — specifically the harm that can come from minors entering contracts without parental consent — Utah’s law should transcend free speech challenges, advocates said in a statement.
“The App Store Accountability Act is a vital tool to protect kids online and keep Big Tech from profiting off of the exploitation of America’s children,” Lee said. “I am confident the App Store Accountability Act will prevail.”
This is not the first time Utah has faced the ire of Big Tech.
In 2023, Utah lawmakers passed landmark legislation forcing social media companies to verify users’ ages, to give maximum privacy to minors’ accounts and to remove addictive engagement features for minors.
The law quickly invited litigation from NetChoice, representing Google, Meta and Snapchat. A district court enjoined the law in 2024 because it risked violating protected speech by determining what information is available to users.
When the app store law passed, critics predicted it would end up in the same place as Utah’s earlier efforts to mandate safety features. But advocates argued it was lawsuit-proof because it focused on contracts instead of content.
What does the law do?
The law orders app stores to verify a user’s age, using the information needed to create an app store account. Child accounts must be affiliated with a parent account and must receive consent to download or make purchases.
The consent process must inform parents if the app has an age rating and must provide a description of how the app will use their child’s information. The law allows parents of harmed minors to sue app stores or developers for violations.
The bill received the support of app developers, like Meta, Snap Inc. and X, who were happy to see the responsibility for verifying identity moved to app stores. The groups called for other states to follow Utah’s lead.
But Apple and Google lobbied hard against the bill, warning about privacy risks of recording users’ ages while putting forward their own alternatives. Utah’s Libertas Institute also opposed the law for potentially compromising internet anonymity.
Despite Utah’s confidence that the App Store Accountability Act would not face the same fate as its predecessor, it was given a delayed implementation date of May 6, 2026, to give tech companies “time to react.”
Before backing a lawsuit, Google sought to work around laws like the one in Utah, directly emailing minors with instructions to remove parental controls. The company backed off after McKay drew attention to it in a viral post earlier this month.
In a statement, bill sponsor Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, said he believes the App Store Accountability Act is constitutional and seeks to regulate contracts “between multi-billion-dollar corporations and children.”
“Utah is all too familiar with Big Tech’s evasion tactics used to avoid accountability,” Weiler said. “I look forward to winning this tech lawsuit and delivering greater tools for Utah parents to protect their kids in our digital world.”
Similar Texas law
While multiple states are considering legislation like the App Store Accountability Act, Texas is the only other state to have passed it. Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law last August. In December it was enjoined in federal court.
The Computer & Communication Industry Association argued that Texas’ version of the law violated the 1st Amendment by being overly broad in its limitations on protected speech. But Utah’s law has some key differences.
The Texas law had an earlier effective date, Jan. 1. It also had stricter requirements around app stores creating an age rating system, and tasks the state attorney general, as opposed to aggrieved citizens, with holding companies liable.
These made the Texas App Store Accountability Act more vulnerable to a lawsuit, according to Bill Duncan, the Law & Religious Freedom Fellow at Sutherland Institute, who said he is optimistic Utah’s law will be upheld.
The Computer & Communication Industry Association’s complaint relies on the same arguments they made in Texas. However, Utah’s law resembles traditional consumer protection, not a general ban on access to speech, Duncan said.
“The 1st Amendment is intended to protect the ability of individuals to share good faith opinions, but it doesn’t create any kind of right to market products to children without their parents knowing,” Duncan told the Deseret News.
While parents may want to complain to the Legislature about the law being inconvenient, Duncan said it is a stretch to say these “logistical” challenges are a violation of free speech. Duncan expects the district court to share this opinion.
The lawsuits in Texas and Utah may be an attempt to dissuade other states from following Utah’s lead, Duncan said. But that hasn’t stopped Utah legislators from sponsoring a host of anti-Big Tech bills this session in the name of protecting children.
Utah lawmakers are considering a social media tax and cracking down on artificial intelligence by requiring AI firms to publish child safety plans and to prevent chatbots from engaging in inappropriate conversations with minors.