Supporters want to block ‘crude’ content, critics see bill as unconstitutional

TOPEKA — The Kansas Senate passed legislation Wednesday requiring app store providers to verify the age of Kansas customers and confirm minors had consent of an adult before purchasing or downloading an app.

The Kansas House has yet to take up House Bill 2422, and approval of the second chamber would be necessary before sending the package to Gov. Laura Kelly. The Senate vote was 34-6, but the legislation was aggressively opposed by Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes of Lenexa.

Prominent digital marketplaces targeted by the bill included Google Play Store, with 3 million available apps for Android users, and Apple App Store, which allowed users to download more than 2 million applications for Apple devices.

Sen. Kellie Warren, a Leawood Republican and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the Legislature ought to help parents shield children from big technology companies funneling “harmful” content and advertising to consumers. She said teenagers were downloading apps without knowledge of their parents.

“We all have seen the effect that social media, the internet, is having on our children,” she said. “In fact, we hear a lot about that from Kansas parents.”

In addition to requiring companies to verify age of account applicants, HB 2422 would mandate businesses subsequently delete personally identifiable information used to affirm the age of adult and minor customers.

The measure would require Attorney General Kris Kobach to adopt regulations before Jan. 1, 2027, establishing age-verification methods app providers would use to confirm the age of account holders. The state’s attorney general would investigate alleged violations and impose civil penalties of not less than $7,500 for a confirmed violation of the statute.

“It’s a small step, but important step, to keep our kids safe online,” Warren said.

Sykes, a Democrat running for state insurance commissioner, said the legislation was unconstitutional. She said it would be misleading to proclaim the bill would have meaningful impact on the public’s consumption of online material viewed by some as objectionable.

“I think lying to parents and misleading them is something we should take very seriously,” Sykes said. “This bill will not protect Kansas kids. This bill will only open Kansas up for more litigation, costing the state and taxpayers millions of dollars. Protecting our children is crucial and should be taken seriously, but this bill does not do that. It only gives parents a false sense of security.”

Sen. Tory Marie Blew, R-Great Bend, voted for the bill but registered objections to the legislation because it sought to “regulate parents for parenting.”

Rep. Nikki McDonald, D-Olathe, said she’d received feedback from constituents in Johnson County who shared criticism of the bill negotiated by six House and Senate legislators.

“We all agree that protecting children is paramount. I have real concerns about privacy and implementation. Unintended consequences are a real issue,” McDonald said.

Originally, HB 2422 was a bill adjusting state law on the level of felony attached to theft of grain or hay. In a House-Senate conference committee, those agriculture provisions were replaced by the “app store accountability act” embodied by Senate Bill 372.

The app bill was supported during a Senate committee hearing in January by the Digital Childhood Alliance, Family First Technology Initiative, Kansas Family Voice, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Paradigm Shift Training and Consulting, Protect Young Eyes, Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Kansas Catholic Conference.

Brittany Jones, president of Kansas Family Voice, said the change in Kansas law would “preserve the impressionable mind of a child” from “crude content” by requiring parental involvement.

“Parents reserve the right to ensure the content in which their child is exposed to is age-appropriate,” she said.

Critics of the legislation included the Computer and Communications Industry Association, NetChoice, Taxpayers Protection Alliance, The App Association and the James Madison Institute. There were objections to legislation undermining privacy of all ages and restricting access to digital commerce.

Amy Bos, vice president of government affairs at the NetChoice association of internet businesses, including Meta and Google, said the U.S. Supreme Court ruled mandates on age verification blocking a person’s ability to exercise First Amendment rights were unconstitutional. Age verification laws have failed to withstand legal scrutiny in California, Utah, Ohio, Arkansas and Louisiana, Bos said.

“If enacted, this bill would almost certainly violate Kansans’ First Amendment rights, weaken their privacy and fail to keep kids safe,” Bos said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.

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