Our digital lives are growing, but so are the risks for kids online. To tackle this, California is moving forward with a new bill that would require strict age verification. Backed by tech giants like Google, the measure has just cleared an important legislative hurdle.

After a 58-0 Assembly vote, California’s Digital Age Assurance Act, championed by Assembly member Buffy Wicks, is now headed to Governor Gavin Newsom, as per a report on Politico. The bill skips photo ID requirements, instead mandating that tech platforms build tools for parents to verify a user’s age directly during a device’s initial setup. The goal is to help guide kids to age-appropriate content and keep screen time in check.

The bill sets a new standard for online responsibility, pushing platforms to enforce stricter age checks and take a bigger role in protecting California’s kids. This follows Utah’s groundbreaking law earlier this year, the first in the US to make app stores verify user ages and share that information with developers.

Age verification gains national momentum

Momentum is building nationwide to shift age verification duties to app stores. States are now pushing to make app stores, not just social media companies, verify users’ ages. This shift comes after earlier laws focused on parental consent for social media access. Unlike those, this new approach has backing from major platforms like Meta and X.

Unlike Utah and Texas’ age verification laws, which drew privacy concerns and pushback from Google and Apple, California’s bill has received a warmer welcome from tech giants.

Under California’s bill, device makers must offer a simple interface for users to enter their birthdate, a step most devices already include at setup. This age information, which won’t necessarily be verified, is sent to app stores, which then pass along a user’s age range to app developers.

App developers would need a parent’s okay before any user under 16 could download an app. They’d also have to give parents tools to manage the account, like setting time limits on their kid’s app use.