As a mom and a lifelong grassroots conservative, I’ve seen firsthand how quickly Washington finds excuses to insert itself into our daily lives. Now, with the so-called “App Store Accountability Act,” Congress is at it again, and this time, they’re coming for the very devices we rely on every day.
Let’s be honest: parents don’t need another Washington-knows-best mandate. We’re already working hard to guide our kids through a digital world that can feel overwhelming at times. I may not have little kids at home anymore, but like every parent, I care about the tools and choices available to families. This bill doesn’t empower parents; it ties our hands.
The App Store Accountability Act would force every single American, kids and adults alike, to hand over private personal information to verify a user’s age just to download apps. That means even harmless ones, like the weather or flashlight apps, would suddenly require you to surrender sensitive data. That’s not empowering parents; it’s creating a privacy nightmare.
The result? More control in Washington, less choice for families. It’s the same top-down approach we’ve seen in too many other areas of life, and it rarely ends well. And worse still, parents would lose their right to decide which apps get access to their kids’ information because all age data is handed over to app developers by default just by accessing the app stores. Instead of parents choosing what’s safe, the federal government would make that decision for everyone, whether we like it or not.
Not only does this bill infringe upon parents’ rights, but it’s also a clear violation of Americans’ First Amendment Rights by forcing age verification onto all users. Courts across the country have repeatedly found age verification tools intrusive and unconstitutional for limiting Americans’ access to protected speech. If the App Store Accountability Act gets passed, it will be challenged in court time and time again, inevitably wasting taxpayers’ money.
Parents already work hard to set boundaries and teach responsibility when it comes to technology. We don’t need a bill that doesn’t even solve the complex issues of children’s online safety; kids can bypass app stores entirely by using a web browser, meaning families will face all the risks and none of the benefits. What we need are tools and transparency, not mandates that undermine the safeguards parents depend on.
Missourians understand this better than most. We believe in personal responsibility, parental choice and limited government. The App Store Accountability Act tramples all three.
If Congress wants to help families, it should focus on supporting parents, not stripping away the protections and choices we rely on. Encourage innovation. Strengthen privacy protections. Give us better tools to guide our kids’ use of technology. But don’t hand over broad decision-making power to regulators who think they know best.
As a mom, I’ll never stop fighting to protect both our kids and our freedom. This bill doesn’t do either. Congress should reject it.
