H.B. 498 Utah App Store Accountability Act Amendments: transcript

Thank you. Uh, Mr. Chairman, committee member. So, last year I worked with Senator Weiler on the App Store Accountability Act, and this is the 2026 version. We're making some cleanups doing a few adjustments, so I'll run through those. Uh, one thing we're developing or delaying, I should say, the effective date until May 6th, 2027. Um, this, there's a lot going on nationally, and we want the, the time to kind of see what the national landscape is and, and give providers time to adjust. So that's one change. Another change is, is it limits enforcement to a private right of action. It's currently in the bill that was the original intent, but, um, there'll be no other regulatory enforcement in the bill. Um, that in this bill, it takes that out. And just going with the original intent, so the private right of action was in the bill last year. That remains in, that's the Enforcement Act aspect. Netflix requested a change, and I'll try to give you an example. Netflix has a subscription application, and you go on their, their app and the parent can go in and set the, the, the, uh, permissions for their kids in the family. Right now, the law that requires that the kids permitted content is the lowest or the youngest age of the child. So let's say you have a, a 15-year-old and a 7-year-old right now, it would only allow 7-year-old content to be available to 15-year-old. And so what will this, this will say is after that app is set up on the example of a subscription account like Netflix, the, the adult could go in after set up and subsequently set the content level up to maybe a more appropriate level for a 15-year-old or whatever the age is. So that gives a little more, uh, flexibility in it. And then, uh, since we passed this bill, there's been model language. It's gone throughout, uh, I think, uh, 20 states or so that's being worked on. And so they're, uh, clarifying that to kind of, uh, mirror the model language. One of the ch clarifying pieces is that a minor who is married or emancipated is not covered. Uh, and, and defining what constitute a significant change in the app that would necessitate providing notice to the App store, because they're, they're married, they're emancipated, we feel that they can make that, uh, uh, decision. Also, the model legislation recognized that pre-installed apps like Safari Chrome and Gmail or major access points were minors, but were previously uncovered. So now they have similar requirements. And that's my presentation. Thank you.

Corinne Johnson, Utah, parents United. Just very briefly, we wanted to thank, um, representative Dug Dunnigan for these changes. As he mentioned, this bill has been moving as been introduced in 20 states following Utah's model, and we are matching this model to meet the rest of the states. Also wanted to mention there's gonna be a federal markup of the App Store accountability in about two weeks, which is why we are looking at that, changing that effective date. And we'd all love your support, and thank you so much.

Kidding. Okay. So I'm Dina Alexander with Child First Policy Center. I'm a mom. I've been a child advocate for more than a decade. Love this bill. I agree with the little changes to include pre-installed apps that is super helpful to cover kids at the end of the day. Of course, this bill is about child safety. Uh, some of the opposition has, of course, brought in First Amendment issues. There's nothing that affects First Amendment, what people can write, say, what companies can say. It is simple contract law that we cannot allow children to make contracts with billion dollar companies. So I hope I urge you to support it. Thanks.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It looks like we need to adopt substitute one. I'm speaking to the first sub. My intern said, don't forget to speak to the first sub, so thank you speaking. Yeah. Mr. Chair, I move that we adopt substitute one of HB 4 98.

I waive. Okay. We'll go to the sponsor.

Thank you. That was the bill.

I'll Waive. Okay. The motion

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we pass out HB 4 98, substitute one favorably to the full house.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to speak in favor of that motion. This is an important bill nationally. Uh, I, I presented on your bill at the NCSL, the tech committee, and many states are watching and, uh, want to know how they can improve, uh, their versions of this. Uh, so it's, I appreciate the, the improvements and, uh, and full, full support of this and, and many others are as well. So, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Protecting children is legitimate, but not by forcing private businesses to enforce age verification of parental consent rules. Um, because this also has rule making authority, and I'm ultra sensitive to that. Um, I will be a no on this.

I think I've explained it. I think the committee understands it. So thank you for your support.

I think this is a good bill. Uh, this continues to reinforce parental rights and holding app stores accountable. And so I, I think this is the right step in updating as we have new information and as technology progresses is important. So thank you for your good work.

Thank you Mr. Chair. Committee members. This last year, Senator Wiley ran a bill to address the issue of apps, essentially contracting with minors, maybe providing inappropriate material to them. So we passed that bill, and this is a, an update to that Bill, bill does a few things. I'm, I'm speaking to the, the second sub and which needs to be adopted. What the second sub does is it delays the, the, or it makes a, an immediate effective date for parts of the bill. But, uh, lemme give you an overview of the bill. Other than that change in the second sub, it provides some additional consumer, uh, protections. It, after we passed the, the bill last year, it's become a, a model for 20 other states. And we're adding some language this year that an emaciated emancipated minor or a person who gets married and they're not 18, is considered to be an adult and they don't have to have an adult give them permission to have access to an app. And then it also removes the Consumer Protection Division as a regulator. It still leaves a private right of action, and this was the intent of last year's bill, but it removes the consumer protection as a, as the regulator. And that part of the bill has an immediate effect. And then also HIP provides that for apps with a family account. Netflix is an example that, so the way it works currently under the bill, uh, an adult goes in set up, sets up an account with Netflix, and they have a 7-year-old and a 15-year-old. The adult can set, can access adult contact, but the rest of the family, the minors only get what's available to the youngest child. So they all get the seven year olds. And that may not sit well with a 15-year-old. So what this bill does, it says after the account is set up, the adult or the parent can go in and say, okay, 15-year-old, you can have access to material that's a little more mature than the, than the what's gonna be provided to the, the 7-year-old. And with that, I'm open to questions.

Thank you Mr. Chair. I'm, um, moved to delete title and body of HB 4 98 first sub and replace it with HB 4 98 second sub. And you're good with that representative?

Now you have a substituted bill, So I Thank you Mr. Chair. So the bill delays the implementation tape for much of it like the, the app stores when they go online to May of 2027. It gives us more time to learn from what's going on in other states and also one more legislative session in case there's some other adjustments that need to be made. But as I said earlier, there is an, would be an immediate effective date on the part that removes the division of consumer protection as a regulator. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Melanie Mortenson. I am here representing Utah Parents United. And, uh, our organization played a leading role in supporting this legislation last session because we believe that parents, not tech companies, should be the primary decision makers for their children. Utah was the first state in the nation to pass this framework, and it quickly became the model for other states. Over the past year, as similar bills have moved across the country, it has become clear where language can be strengthened. So HB 4 98 is a careful cleanup bill and negotiated with the Attorney General's office to tighten the statute, reinforce parental rights, and ensure the policy remains content neutral and constitutionally sound. We want Utah's law to remain the strongest, most defensible model in the nation, and these amendments help support that. So we urge your support for 4 98 sub one. And thank you very much.

Yes, I definitely did.

I would make a motion that we favorably recommend second sub house bill 4 4 98.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So last year we passed the App Store Accountability Act bill, and it was to get at these, these apps that target minor, minor children and effectively have them sign a contract online, even though they're minors, and then send them on sort of a material. So we, we passed that. That's great. 20 other states now have model legislation that they're working on similar to ours. So what this bill is a little clean up to last year's bills does a few things, uh, addresses a, an an app that uses a family, and I'll give you an exa, a family app like Netflix. So the current law requires if you go into Netflix with a family app, the adult goes in, sets up the account, say they have a 7-year-old and a 15-year-old. The, the law requires that the child's access to material defaults to the youngest. So the 15-year-old only gets to watch material that's suitable for 7-year-old or under 13. So what this bill does this year is it gives the parent a little more authority and autonomy. They can go in after the app, the accountant has been set up, they can go back in and say, okay, my 15-year-old can access this type of material. So that's, that's one thing. It it does. And then another thing it does is it says if you're an emancipated minor or you're married, but you're under 18, you're considered, uh, an adult. And then also it delays the implementation date until May of 2027, and it removes the Consumer Protection Division as the enforcer. It maintains a private right of action. So a parent could still sue, uh, and bring a legal case on behalf of their minor child that was getting unsuitable material or that the app store didn't comply with. Uh, but it, it maintains a private right of action, removes the Consumer Protection Division without 'em open to questions. Mr. Speaker?

Thank you. I think this, uh, is good for our, for our children. It's good for our, our, uh, families, and I encourage your support.

cleanup Bill from the App Store Accountability Act that, uh, we passed last year. That was my bill. This clarifies key definitions such as family account application and primary account holder, ensuring age verification and parental consent requirements apply as originally intended. It establishes some clear compliance standards for family account apps and reflects collaboration between child safety advocates and industry stakeholders. Um, with that, I'll yield to any questions. Seeing no question.

Under suspension of the rules, I move that second substitute house bill 4 98 pass.

Senator Vickers Baldy Lewin Brar Bus Co. Moore? Aye. Escamilla. Senator Escamilla Aye. Fillmore Aye. Rover. Aye. Harper Aye. Kinins? Aye. Ipson Aye. Johnson? Aye. Juab. Okay. Mikel. Aye. Milner. Musman. Aye. Owens pitcher Aye. Plum? Aye. Rebe Sandal Aye. Stevenson Stratton Bick Vickers. Senator Vickers Aye. Weiler Aye. Wilson Aye. Winterton Aye. President Adams

Thank you Mr. President. I'll be quick. Motion to encircle, um, Senate bill, I mean house Bill three 11. Have A motion to encircle house bill three 11 Amendments to election law.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I move to Concur with the Senate amendments.

Yes. We added, uh, an immediate effective date for the part that removes the Consumer Protection Division as a regulator.