Meta, X, and Snap are hailing a newly enacted Utah law that mandates Apple and Google to take charge of verifying the age of users on their app stores and obtain parental consent for minors.

The technology giants have been locked in a dispute over which entity should assume responsibility for age verification on app stores. Companies like Meta argue that the app stores themselves should handle age verification, given their role in hosting and distributing apps. In contrast, the app stores contend that the onus should fall on the companies developing the apps, as they are the ones providing the products to end-users.

Utah is not the only state to consider such legislation regarding age verification; it is, however, the first to put a law of this nature into effect. The App Store Accountability Act, the official title of the new law, was passed by Utah’s legislature earlier this month and subsequently signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox.

In anticipation of the law’s passage, Apple unveiled a new suite of child safety initiatives for its App Store, which includes an age-checking system for apps. This system enables app developers to utilize a new Declared Age Range API to access age range information provided by the parent, without divulging the minor’s exact age or birthdate. This allows app developers to tailor their app experiences according to the provided age range.

Apple’s system places the onus on app developers to request the age range before an app is used, rather than having the App Store verify the age at the time of download.

It is unsurprising that social media companies are welcoming the new Utah law, which requires app stores to verify users’ ages prior to allowing apps to be downloaded onto their devices.

In a joint statement, Meta, X, and Snap commended Utah’s move, stating:

We commend Governor Cox and the State of Utah for taking the lead as the first in the nation to grant parents and users greater control over teen app downloads. We urge other states to consider this pioneering approach. Parents desire a centralized location to oversee and approve the numerous apps their teens want to download, and Utah has paved the way by situating this control within a device’s app store. This method spares users the inconvenience of repeatedly submitting personal information to multiple individual apps and online services. We are committed to protecting parents and teens and look forward to seeing more states adopt this model.

In total, 16 U.S. states, including California and Texas, have introduced their own versions of app store legislation focused on age verification and youth safety.