II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5364 

To provide a private right of action regarding children’s exposure to covered 

content on apps, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2024 

Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide a private right of action regarding children’s 

exposure to covered content on apps, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘App Store Accountability Act’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. Private right of action. 

Sec. 5. Safe harbor for covered app store providers. 

Sec. 6. Severability. 

Sec. 7. Effective date. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 It is the sense of Congress that— 

3 (1) parents and legal guardians have the right 

4 to seek a remedy when their child is exposed to an 

5 app that contains covered content; 

6 (2) app stores should provide parents and legal 

7 guardians with effective tools to protect children 

8 from covered content on apps, including age 

9 verification technology, parental oversight and con10 sent features, and accurate app age ratings; and 

11 (3) any tool described in paragraph (2) is not 

12 effective if the tool— 

13 (A) does not empower parents or legal 

14 guardians to protect their child from covered 

15 content; 

16 (B) is not readily accessible to parents or 

17 legal guardians; or 

18 (C) is grossly negligent to loopholes that 

19 undermine parents’ or legal guardians’ ability 

20 to protect their child. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) AGE CATEGORY.—The term ‘‘age category’’ 

24 means the category of an individual based on their 

25 age, including the following categories: 


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1 (A) ADULT.—An ‘‘adult’’ is such an indi2 vidual who has attained 18 years of age. 

3 (B) TEENAGER.—A ‘‘teenager’’ is such an 

4 individual who has attained 16 years of age but 

5 has not attained 18 years of age. 

6 (C) CHILD.—A ‘‘child’’ is such an indi7 vidual who has attained 13 years of age but has 

8 not attained 16 years of age. 

9 (D) YOUNG CHILD.—A ‘‘young child’’ is 

10 such an individual who has not attained 13 

11 years of age. 

12 (2) AGE RATING.—The term ‘‘age rating’’ 

13 means a public display that indicates the appro14 priateness of an app for different age categories. 

15 (3) APP.—The term ‘‘app’’ means a software 

16 application or electronic service that may be run or 

17 directed by a user on a computer, mobile device, or 

18 any other general purpose computing device. 

19 (4) APP STORE.—The term ‘‘app store’’ means 

20 a publicly available website, software application, or 

21 other electronic service that distributes and facili22 tates the download of an app from a third-party de23 veloper by a user of a computer, mobile device, or 

24 any other general purpose computing device. 


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1 (5) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

2 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

3 (6) COVERED APP STORE PROVIDER.—The 

4 term ‘‘covered app store provider’’ means any person 

5 that owns or controls an app store available in the 

6 United States and for which users in the United 

7 States exceed 5,000,000. 

8 (7) COVERED CONTENT.—The term ‘‘covered 

9 content’’ means— 

10 (A) any picture, image, graphic image file, 

11 film, videotape, or other visual depiction that— 

12 (i) taken as a whole and with respect 

13 to minors, appeals to a prurient interest in 

14 nudity, sex, or excretion; 

15 (ii) depicts, describes, or represents 

16 an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual 

17 contact, actual or simulated normal or per18 verted sexual acts, or a lewd exhibition of 

19 the genitals, with the objective intent to 

20 arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual de21 sires of a person; and 

22 (iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious 

23 literary, artistic, political, or scientific 

24 value as to minors; 


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1 (B) any graphic image or video of real or 

2 simulated violence; or 

3 (C) a social or messaging forum whereby a 

4 user may interact directly or indirectly with 

5 users that are minors. 

6 (8) DEVELOPER.—The term ‘‘developer’’ means 

7 any person that owns or controls an app on the app 

8 store of a covered app store provider and available 

9 in the United States. 

10 (9) INJURY.—The term ‘‘injury’’ means a rea11 sonable, articulable harm that results from an expo12 sure to covered content. 

13 (10) MINOR.—The term ‘‘minor’’ means an in14 dividual who has not attained 18 years of age. 

15 (11) MOBILE DEVICE.—The term ‘‘mobile de16 vice’’ means a tablet or smart phone that is capable 

17 of running a mobile operating system. 

18 (12) MOBILE OPERATING SYSTEM.—The term 

19 ‘‘mobile operating system’’ means a set of software 

20 that manages mobile device hardware resources and 

21 provides common services for mobile device pro22 grams. 

23 (13) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’, with re24 spect to a minor, means an adult with the legal right 


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1 to make decisions on behalf of the minor, includ2 ing— 

3 (A) a natural parent; 

4 (B) an adoptive parent; 

5 (C) a legal guardian; or 

6 (D) an individual with legal custody over 

7 the minor. 

8 (14) SIGNAL.—The term ‘‘signal’’ means age 

9 bracketed data sent by a real-time secure application 

10 programming interface or operating system that is 

11 likely to be accessed by minors. 

12 (15) VERIFIABLE PARENTAL CONSENT.—The 

13 term ‘‘verifiable parental consent’’ means authoriza14 tion that is provided— 

15 (A) by a parent who a covered app store 

16 provider has verified is an adult; 

17 (B) in response to a disclosure from a cov18 ered app store provider that identifies what is 

19 specifically being consented to, including the 

20 age rating for the app or in-app purchase at 

21 issue; and 

22 (C) in response to a clear choice to consent 

23 or to decline to consent to the request from the 

24 covered app store provider. 


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1 SEC. 4. PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5, any parent 

3 of a minor alleging an injury to the minor as a result of 

4 exposure to covered content on an app of a covered app 

5 store may bring a civil action against the covered app store 

6 provider in an appropriate district court of the United 

7 States. 

8 (b) RELIEF.—In a civil action brought under sub9 section (a) in which the plaintiff prevails, the court may 

10 award— 

11 (1) actual damages; 

12 (2) punitive damages; 

13 (3) reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs; 

14 and 

15 (4) any other relief, including equitable or de16 claratory relief, that the court determines appro17 priate. 

18 SEC. 5. SAFE HARBOR FOR COVERED APP STORE PRO19 VIDERS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), no 

21 cause of action shall lie against a covered app store pro22 vider under section 4 if the covered app store provider per23 forms the following activities, as determined by the Com24 mission in accordance with subsection (b): 

25 (1) AGE VERIFICATION.—Determine the age 

26 category for each individual in the United States 


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1 that uses the app store of such provider and verify 

2 such individual’s age using commercially reasonable 

3 methods. 

4 (2) PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF APP STORE

5 USAGE.—Obtain verifiable parental consent prior to 

6 allowing a minor to use the app store of such pro7 vider, including by providing a mechanism for a par8 ent to block a minor from downloading any app that 

9 is not suitable for the age category of the minor. 

10 (3) PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF APP

11 DOWNLOADS.—Obtain verifiable parental consent, on 

12 a download-by-download basis, prior to allowing a 

13 minor to download an app from the app store of 

14 such provider, including by providing an easily ac15 cessible mechanism for a parent to consent to the 

16 download of an app. 

17 (4) PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF APP PUR18 CHASES.—Obtain verifiable parental consent, on a 

19 purchase-by-purchase basis, prior to allowing a 

20 minor to purchase any app through the app store of 

21 such provider, and such consent shall be valid for up 

22 to 7 days. 

23 (5) PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF IN-APP PUR24 CHASES.—Obtain verifiable parental consent, on a 

25 purchase-by-purchase basis, prior to allowing a 


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1 minor to make an in-app purchase through the app 

2 store of such provider. 

3 (6) PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF APP USAGE.— 

4 With respect to any covered app store provider that 

5 owns or controls a mobile device’s mobile operating 

6 system, to the extent practicable, provide to parents 

7 a clear and easy mechanism to set— 

8 (A) filters that prevent a minor from ac9 cessing any adult website on the web browser of 

10 the mobile device; and 

11 (B) usage limits, including daily limits and 

12 limitations during school and evening hours. 

13 (7) APP AGE RATING DISPLAY.—To the extent 

14 the covered app store provider displays age ratings 

15 or descriptions of content, clearly and prominently 

16 display the age rating or description of content for 

17 each app available in the app store of the provider, 

18 including information regarding the minimum age 

19 category suitable for usage of an app. 

20 (8) AGE CATEGORY SIGNAL TO DEVELOPERS.— 

21 Provide to developers the ability to determine, in 

22 real time, the age category of any user and, with re23 spect to any user that is a minor, whether the cov24 ered app store provider has obtained verifiable pa25 rental consent in accordance with this section. 


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1 (9) DEVELOPER STANDARDS.—Certify that any 

2 developer of an app on the covered app store per3 forms the following activities, and remove any devel4 oper or app from the covered app store that fails to 

5 perform such activities or sells age category data for 

6 any reason: 

7 (A) APP AGE RATING.—To the extent that 

8 a developer provides age ratings or descriptions 

9 of content to users, the developer shall— 

10 (i) clearly provide to a user the de11 scription of content and clearly identify the 

12 age category eligible for usage of an app; 

13 and 

14 (ii) provide such information to each 

15 app store available in the United States. 

16 (B) PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF APP

17 USAGE.—To the extent technically feasible, the 

18 developer shall use the application programming 

19 interface of a covered app store provider to 

20 verify— 

21 (i) the age category of its users; and 

22 (ii) in the case of a minor, whether 

23 verifiable parental consent has been ob24 tained before allowing the use of the app 

25 or in-app purchases. 


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1 (C) TIME RESTRICTIONS.—The developer 

2 shall provide readily available features for a 

3 parent to implement time restrictions with re4 spect to the app of such developer, including 

5 the ability to view metrics reflecting the amount 

6 of time that a minor is using the app and set 

7 daily time limits on a minor’s use of such app. 

8 (D) USE OF APP STORE PROVIDER SIG9 NAL.—Each developer shall use a covered app 

10 store provider’s signal to determine the age cat11 egory of a user. 

12 (b) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBILITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon request by a covered 

14 app store provider, in such form and manner as the 

15 Commission shall prescribe, the Commission shall— 

16 (A) review the policies of the provider that 

17 are relevant to the requirements described in 

18 subsection (a) to determine whether the pro19 vider is eligible for the safe harbor described in 

20 such subsection; and 

21 (B) not later than 30 days after receiving 

22 such request, submit to Congress and make 

23 publicly available a notice confirming the safe 

24 harbor eligibility of the provider if the Commis25 sion determines that the provider— 


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1 (i) meets the requirements described 

2 in subsection (a); and 

3 (ii) does not permit, or quickly rem4 edies, any method of circumventing the 

5 protections described in such subsection. 

6 (2) UPDATES TO POLICIES.—In the event that 

7 a covered app store provider updates any policy that 

8 is relevant to the requirements described in sub9 section (a), the provider shall notify the Commission 

10 of such update to ensure that such update does not 

11 impact the safe harbor eligibility of the provider 

12 under paragraph (1). 

13 (3) COMPLAINTS.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

16 Commission shall establish a mechanism to re17 ceive complaints regarding the compliance of 

18 any covered app store provider determined to be 

19 eligible for safe harbor under paragraph (1) 

20 with the requirements described in subsection 

21 (a). 

22 (B) REVIEW.—The Commission shall regu23 larly review any complaints received through 

24 such mechanism and, if necessary, evaluate the 


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1 relevant provider’s continued eligibility for safe 

2 harbor. 

3 (4) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY.—The Commis4 sion’s determination of safe harbor eligibility with 

5 respect to a covered app store provider shall be valid 

6 for 1 year. 

7 (5) CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW.—Each deter8 mination of eligibility made by the Commission 

9 under paragraph (1) shall be considered an agency 

10 rule subject to chapter 8 of title 5, United States 

11 Code, for purposes of a joint resolution of dis12 approval, except that— 

13 (A) the 60-day period for filing a joint res14 olution under section 802(a) of such title shall 

15 not apply; and 

16 (B) a joint resolution of disapproval may 

17 contain one or more such agency rules de18 scribed in paragraph (1). 

19 (c) DISQUALIFYING ACTIVITY.—The safe harbor de20 scribed in subsection (a) shall not apply if the Commission 

21 determines that the covered app store provider— 

22 (1) sells age category data for any reason; or 

23 (2) acts in a manner contrary to the sense of 

24 Congress described in section 2. 


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1 (d) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed— 

3 (1) to prevent a covered app store provider 

4 from taking reasonable measures to block, detect, or 

5 prevent the distribution of unlawful, obscene, or 

6 other harmful material to minors, to block or filter 

7 spam, to prevent criminal activity, or to protect the 

8 security of an app store or app; 

9 (2) to require a covered app store provider to 

10 disclose to a developer any information about a user 

11 other than such user’s age category and, with re12 spect to any user that is a minor, whether the cov13 ered app store provider has obtained verifiable pa14 rental consent in accordance with this section; 

15 (3) to allow a covered app store provider to use 

16 any measures required by this section in a way that 

17 is arbitrary, capricious, anti-competitive, or unlaw18 ful; or 

19 (4) to affect or restrict the expression of polit20 ical, religious, or other viewpoints. 

21 SEC. 6. SEVERABILITY. 

22 If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof 

23 to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remain24 der of this Act, and the application of such provision to 


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1 other persons not similarly situated or to other cir2 cumstances, shall not be affected by the invalidation. 

3 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 Except as otherwise provided in this Act, this Act 

5 shall take effect on the date that is 1 year after the date 

6 of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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