A recent poll conducted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation indicates significant support among Texas parents and voters for legislation that would require app stores to obtain parental approval before children can download apps. The poll highlights several key findings, including that 75% of all Texas voters favor such a requirement, with specific support from 79% of Texas parents and 88% of Republican voters in the state.

David Dunmoyer, Director of the Better Tech for Tomorrow Campaign at TPPF, commented on the issue: "Big Tech has adopted a business strategy of addicting children to their products and services while simultaneously pulling all the stops to prevent parents from having transparency or control over what their children are accessing. Parents have had enough of being robbed the ability to parent in the digital age, and they recognize a need for commonsense solutions to prevent their kids from being exposed to predators, harmful content, and a vortex of addictive content."

The poll's release coincides with the Texas Legislature's consideration of the App Store Accountability Act (Senate Bill 2420 and House Bill 4901), introduced by Senator Angela Paxton and Representative Caroline Fairly. This legislation aims to implement parental approval and age verification systems in app stores, following similar measures recently enacted in states like Utah.

Greyson Gee, Policy Analyst at Texas Public Policy Foundation, emphasized the importance of this legislative effort: "These poll results confirm what our research has indicated – parents seek meaningful tools to protect their children in the digital world. Parents shouldn’t have to be cybersecurity experts to keep their children safe online. The App Store Accountability Act provides what parents have been desperately asking for: real protection through robust age verification and explicit parental consent for every download and in-app transaction."

For more information about the App Store Accountability Act, visit https://www.texaspolicy.com/app-store-accountability-act.

Information from this article can be found here.