California Lawmakers Advance Age-Check Bill for App Stores (2)

Tech giants Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. would bear age-verification responsibilities for their app stores under California legislation approved by a key committee on Tuesday.

Utah, Texas, and Louisiana enacted laws this year requiring app stores to check user ages and require parental permission for those under 18 to download apps and make purchases. Advocates for children’s online safety are pushing the measures to protect underage users.

The California Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the measure (AB 1043) by a 12-0 vote with some changes, such as removing language that would require parental consent to download apps. The bill ...