The Big Story 

The fight over a key internet protection for children is ramping up in Washington, where Big Tech companies are pinning the responsibility on each other as lawmakers push for stricter requirements.  

© Getty Images

After months of action in the states, age verification legislation made its way to Congress last week, when Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. John James (R-Mich.) introduced a bill that would put the onus on app stores run by Apple and Google to verify all users’ ages.  

“Kids cannot consent — and any company that exposes them to addictive or adult material should be held accountable,” James said, adding the bill “holds Big Tech companies to the same standard as local corner stores.”  

The issue is uniquely pitting some of the country’s largest technology firms, including Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, against other tech giants.

Meta is part of a new lobbying group, The Coalition for Competitive Mobile Experience, which launched in Washington last week with age verification on the app store as one of its main policy goals.  

The coalition maintains app stores are best suited to handle age verification since they already have the age data, while Apple and Google argue the approach would still require sharing data with app makers.  

Lee and James’ bill, titled the App Store Accountability Act, would be the first of its kind at the federal level. It would require app stores to determine a user’s age “category,” which differentiates age groups younger than 18, and then send the data to app developers.  

The bill resembles efforts underway in several U.S. states, including Lee’s home state of Utah — the first in the country to pass a law putting the responsibility on app stores. The Utah law is slated to take effect Wednesday. 

More than a dozen states proposed similar bills this year.  

Still, the proposal could face hurdles even with Big Tech critics in Congress.  

“Age verification is largely ineffective,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told The Hill. “It is so easily worked around by young people, who frankly think it’s laughable that we would rely on age verification to protect them.”  

Read more in a full report tomorrow morning at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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Crypto Corner 

Republicans’ crypto push hits hurdles

© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.

The Republican push to get key crypto legislation across the finish line is hitting new hurdles.

Stablecoin legislation that once appeared to be sailing forward lost the support of crypto-friendly Senate Democrats over the weekend.

Nine Democrats, several of whom voted to advance the GENIUS Act, pulled their support after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.C.) initiated a process to fast-track a vote on the bill.

The move took Democratic lawmakers by surprise, who had not seen the floor text before it was released, a Democratic aide told The Hill.

“It seems they want us to suck it up and vote for this bill without our input,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) wrote in a post on X.

“That’s not what we expected during this negotiation and not how I operate. Our statement makes clear we won’t let them jam us. Looking forward to continuing to get this bill to a better place.” 

On the other side of the Capitol, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is readying plans to block a hearing on market structure legislation Tuesday.

The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee will object to a joint hearing between the panel and the House Agriculture Committee, according to another Democratic aide.

House Democrats will instead hold a hearing to investigate President Trump’s ties to the industry.

Trump and his family’s growing crypto portfolio has faced scrutiny, as his administration pushes for new rules of the road for the industry.

The crypto firm launched by the president and his sons, World Liberty Financial, announced last week that its new stablecoin would be used to complete a $2 billion transaction between Emirati firm MGX and crypto exchange Binance.

Trump is also set to attend a dinner later this month with the top investors in his meme coin, which he launched shortly after his inauguration.

Both the World Liberty Financial deal and the meme coin dinner have prompted calls from Democratic lawmakers for ethics investigations.

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