• Utah’s Legislature is considering regulations on app stores to ensure parents are notified of app downloads by their children and that the age ratings of apps are accurate.
• A survey of Utah voters shows strong support for regulations on app stores across all demographics.
• Utah’s proposed app store bill could provide an important model for other states.

Introduction

Utah voters strongly support the Utah Legislature’s approach to regulating app stores. That is the finding of a survey of a sample of 610 Utah voters conducted by Y² Analytics in January and early February. The sample reflects the demographic makeup of the state.

Background on app store regulation

App stores are online websites or services that allow users to purchase and/or download applications that can be used on a mobile device. These apps allow a user to access services like social media, health tracking, and a host of other programs. Apps can be relatively innocuous, or they can provide access to explicit and disturbing content or content that is habit-forming, especially for children and youth.

As a result, app stores will typically provide an age rating for the apps it makes available to help purchasers understand whether an app and its content are likely to be appropriate for adults or different ages of minors. These ratings are completely subjective and may or may not give adequate notice to a user of what they may be subjected to by downloading an app.

Additionally, many apps require user agreements for downloading. These contracts govern whether the app can access other information on the user’s device (like contacts, other apps, or location information). They also include financial terms. It is a common practice for apps that charge a fee to use to include in the agreement that the app will automatically charge a monthly fee to the credit card used for the purchase.

Concerns with app store practices

In recent years, there has been increased discussion of the risks of online exposure – particularly for children and youth – to many of the things to which apps provide access. An obvious example is pornography, which poses significant risks to users, particularly minors. Another example is social media, which has been correlated with serious risks to mental health, again particularly in minors. Additionally, even when specific content or services provided by an app are not inherently risky, the financial and privacy consequences of downloading an app raise concerns, especially when the user is a minor.

Currently app stores are not regulated in any formal way. So, if an app rating is misleading or a minor is saddled with a recurring charge, there are no specific legal remedies. Minimal regulation can be positive in fostering entrepreneurial flexibility, but it can leave children, in this instance, unprotected.

Utah voter attitudes about app store regulation

Knowing that app store regulation would be considered in the Utah Legislature’s 2025 legislative session, Sutherland Institute included polling on app store regulation in a poll on voters’ attitudes by the polling firm Y² Analytics.

The results suggest strong support for Utah’s approach.

Nearly half of Utah voters (49%) expressed “strong support” for age verification and accountability for ratings by app stores, and an additional 24% said they would “somewhat support” this approach. Only 17% expressed any opposition.

Similarly, 72% felt it was “very” or “somewhat” important for the Legislature to implement these reforms.

Support for regulation was strong across all age groups, with those older than 65 expressing overwhelming “strong” support (65%); those ages 18-34 next (48% strong support); and those ages 45-64 giving similar answers. The lowest level of “strong” support was among 35- to 44-year-olds, at 39%, though among this age group, 27% reported “somewhat” supporting the regulations.

Support for these app store policies were strong across most of the ideological spectrum. For the group identified as “core Trump voters (voted only for Trump and Phil Lyman for governor or no other Republicans),” 75% supported the policies, while 85% of “Republican loyalists (voted Trump but not Lyman and voted for a Republican in the Senate and governor races), and 93% of “conservative or Republican non-Trump voters” (self-identified Republican or conservative who did not vote for Trump). Only “non-conservative, non-Trump” voters (did not vote for Trump and does not identity as conservative or Republican) did not report a majority support, though it was close, at 49%.

Men supported the app store policies with a strong 67%, and women were even more enthusiastic, with 83% support.

At least two-thirds of each group of voters sorted by education also supported the bill: 75% of those with a high school education or less, 67% with some college, 72% of those with a college degree, and 66% with a post-graduate degree.

App store regulation proposal in 2025 Utah Legislature

The legislation in Utah has been moving forward. It requires app stores to accurately describe the content in rated apps and to ensure that consumers who download apps are adults, or if they are minors, the app store will verify that the minor has parental permission for the download.

To preserve flexibility for app stores, the bill does not create complicated regulations but rather allows parents whose children are harmed by violations of the age verification or app rating provisions to sue for damages.

The bill was approved unanimously by the Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee and by the full Senate on a vote of 24-1.

The strong public support found by Y² Analytics suggests that the bill is likely to get a receptive hearing in the Utah House as well.

At least some large internet companies are supportive of this approach, which suggests that some collaboration between the companies and legislators can be fruitful as long as real accountability is part of the package.

Other states are considering similar bills this session. Age verification has been controversial in the past, but Utah’s experience with popular regulations might provide a template for future efforts.