Grindr supports Republican-backed age-verification bill
In a significant move within the ongoing debate over online safety legislation, Grindr’s head of global government affairs, Joe Hack, announced the app’s support for the Republican-backed App Store Accountability Act. This act, part of a broader set of online safety bills being considered by U.S. lawmakers, aims to enhance age verification processes at the app store level. The legislation would require platforms like Apple and Google to verify users’ age categories through 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. The act, introduced by Republican representatives John James and Mike Lee, is framed as a means to bolster existing safety measures and prevent minors from accessing inappropriate content.
Hack emphasized that Grindr’s support stems from the app’s commitment to keeping minors safe online, highlighting existing measures such as age gating, device-level bans, and partnerships with child safety organizations. He argued that the App Store Accountability Act would provide a unified and secure age verification process, which is more effective and less privacy-invasive than the fragmented rules being developed in the UK and EU. For instance, the UK’s Online Safety Act mandates that users provide sensitive personal information to access adult content, a requirement that raises significant privacy concerns. Experts have pointed out that device-level filtering, as proposed in California’s AB 1043, offers a more efficient solution by establishing age verification during device setup, thus avoiding repeated data checks for individual apps.
While the App Store Accountability Act is positioned as a protective measure for minors, it arrives alongside other contentious legislation, such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which critics argue could threaten free speech by censoring LGBTQ content. This duality in legislative intent highlights the complex landscape of online safety, where the protection of children must be balanced with the preservation of free expression. As Grindr and other stakeholders navigate these legislative waters, the implications for user privacy, safety, and freedom of speech remain critical points of discussion.
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
.
SEE ALSO:
I tried Sniffies and it made getting laid as a gay man almost too easy
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.
