Grindr supports Republican-backed age-verification bill
On Tuesday, Joe Hack, Grindr’s head of global government affairs, announced the app’s support for the Republican-backed App Store Accountability Act on its blog. This legislation is part of a broader set of online safety bills that U.S. lawmakers are currently considering, including the contentious Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA). Critics of KOSA argue that it could lead to the censorship of LGBTQ content online, raising significant concerns about free speech and the protection of marginalized communities. The App Store Accountability Act, introduced by Michigan Rep. John James and Utah Sen. Mike Lee, aims to enhance user safety by mandating age verification at the app store level, requiring providers like Apple and Google to verify users’ age categories using personal data, such as email addresses or Social Security numbers. If a user is identified as a minor, they would need parental consent to download apps or make in-app purchases.
Hack articulated Grindr’s support for the App Store Accountability Act, emphasizing that it complements the app’s existing measures to keep minors safe, which include age gating, device-level bans, human moderation, and AI tools. He highlighted that the bill proposes a unified and secure age-verification process at the app store level, allowing developers to receive a verified age signal. This approach, which is backed by nearly 90% of parents, is deemed safer and more consistent than requiring users to verify their ages across multiple apps. Hack contrasted this with the fragmented rules emerging in the UK and EU, where adults may be compelled to share sensitive personal information with numerous apps, potentially creating privacy risks.
The conversation around age verification is becoming increasingly relevant, with experts advocating for device-level filtering as a more effective method. This approach, illustrated by California’s AB 1043, requires operating systems to request a user’s age or birthday during setup, generating an age bracket signal that can be sent to apps without necessitating repeated data checks. AB 1043 is set to take effect in 2027, signaling a shift toward more robust and privacy-conscious age verification methods. As the legislative landscape evolves, the implications of these bills will be crucial for both user safety and the protection of free speech online, particularly for vulnerable communities such as LGBTQ individuals.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsGQJx-kT9A
On Tuesday,
Grindr
‘s head of global government affairs, Joe Hack, posted on its blog that the app supports the Republican-backed App Store Accountability Act.
The act is one of a slew of
online safety bills
U.S. lawmakers considered this week, as reported by WIRED, including the controversial
Kids Online Safety Act
(KOSA), which critics claim would chill free speech by
censoring online LGBTQ content
.
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The
App Store Accountability Act
would require age verification at the App Store level. App Store providers (like Apple and Google) would have to verify an individual’s “age category” using personal data (such as an email address or Social Security number). Should a user be a minor, they’d have to obtain parental consent before downloading an app or making an in-app purchase.
The act was introduced
back in May
in the House by Michigan Rep. John James, and in the Senate by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, both Republicans. This year, Lee also reintroduced the Interstate Oscenity Definition Act, which would seek to redefine what falls under “obscene” material (which isn’t protected by the First Amendment). Experts told Mashable the bill would
basically ban porn
.
But in terms of the App Store Accountability Act, Grindr’s Hack wrote, “We support Rep. John James’s App Store Accountability Act because it strengthens” the work the app does to keep minors off, including age gating, device-level bans, human moderation, AI tools, and partnerships with child safety organizations.
“The bill creates a single, secure age-verification process at the app-store level and allows developers to receive a verified age signal. This approach, supported by nearly
90% of parents
, is safer and more consistent than requiring users to verify their age separately across many apps,” Hack continued.
“By contrast, the UK and EU are moving toward fragmented rules that force adults to share sensitive personal information with thousands of apps, creating unnecessary privacy and safety risks,” Hack wrote. This references the UK’s
Online Safety Act
, which requires visitors of sites with material that’s “restricted to adults” to submit personal information such as ID or a facial scan.
Recently, free speech experts and child safety experts told Mashable that
device-level filtering
is the preferred method of age verification, as it doesn’t require these data checks every time someone wants to go on certain websites. An example is California’s AB 1043, which requires operating systems to request an age or birthday during setup, and then creates a signal of a user’s age bracket to send to apps (but not websites). AB 1043 takes effect in 2027.
