The debate surrounding online age verification is mired in finger-pointing, blame, and polarization — articles dissect how to implement it, who should be responsible, and which tech giant is shifting responsibility to another. But amid all this noise, the core question is lost: What do children need to stay safe online?

Protecting children online isn’t about assigning blame or catering to corporate interests. It’s about ensuring children are better shielded from harm in a digital world. Just as we prioritize their safety in the physical world, we must do the same in the online spaces they inhabit—because today, online life is real life.

In 2024, the Florida Legislature courageously began protecting our children after years of relying on big tech’s voluntary measures to safeguard kids online.

SB 1438 by Sen. Erin Grall and HB 931 by Majority Leader Tyler Sirois present a clear path forward in taking the necessary steps to protect our children. These essential bills allow us to hold companies that serve as gateways to the internet for our children accountable. Under these measures, device manufacturers, operating systems, app stores, and online platforms all share responsibility for safeguarding children.

The requirement is straightforward: devices must verify age, and the apps and websites children visit must recognize and act on that age signal following the law. These bills also empower the Attorney General to enforce accountability across all involved stakeholders, leaving no room for loopholes.

Consider this: Every online experience begins with a device. That device, powered by an operating system, leads to app stores and web browsers, which, in turn, provide access to apps and websites. Just a handful of companies control these pathways, influencing the entire ecosystem of online destinations. To protect children, these gatekeepers must fulfill their role. Excluding websites and apps from accountability would be a mistake, but leaving out device manufacturers, operating systems, and app stores would be equally shortsighted. True accountability and improved child safety must include every link in the chain.

Device-based age verification offers the most effective, universal solution. It works across companies, platforms, and standards while providing the strongest privacy and security protections for all users, not just children.

Without robust age verification, we cannot adequately protect kids. The alarming statistics evidencing harm to children online indicate that our kids cannot wait. Instead of fixating on which companies should bear the responsibility, let’s focus on what children need. Accountability is key, and the time has come to establish accountability for the companies children interact with on the internet.

The tech industry has had years to address this issue, and while there has been progress, we still have a long way to go. Children deserve a solution that works and prioritizes their safety. We need a solution that is not just words on paper but creates actual accountability.

Device-based age verification is that solution. It is effective, comprehensive, and respects user privacy while offering the highest level of protection. It is time to move beyond the blame game. Instead of pitting companies against one another, we must hold all of them accountable. These new laws do just that, ensuring that every company—from device manufacturers to online platforms—shares the responsibility of protecting children.

The time to take the next step has arrived, and the cost of inaction is too high. I urge every Legislature member and the entire community to collaborate with Sen. Grall and Rep. Sirois in their efforts to protect our children and create accountability for those who control the internet. Let’s drown out the noise, finger-pointing, and bickering and create a common-sense, technically sound solution. Our children depend on all of us.

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Bob Cunningham is the director of Policy Engagement for the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children and a lifelong educator.

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On Monday afternoon, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee will hold a hearing to discuss Senate Bill 1438, introduced by Sen. Erin Grall. This bill requires app stores and operating systems to obtain parental consent before minors can download apps on their devices.

SB 1438 mirrors House Majority Leader Tyler Sirois’ House Bill 931, which was introduced last month and is awaiting its own committee hearing. The bill analysis indicates that these identical bills will “enhance online protections for minors” by requiring app stores to offer features for parental management of a minor’s app and device usage.

Florida follows numerous states nationwide that have introduced similar legislation to provide parents with more comprehensive tools to monitor and approve every app their child downloads, not just social media applications.

Utah became the first state to pass such legislation in February. The Utah bill is awaiting the Governor’s signature. It has already been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, who is expected to reintroduce his own federal bill requiring age verification and parental consent at the app store level in the coming days.

Tiffany Justice, Co-Founder of Moms for Liberty and Visiting Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, praised Lee’s efforts, stating, “Utah legislators know that parents belong in the driver’s seat when it comes to their kids and access to technology. Congratulations to Utah parents for being respected! Let’s get this federal legislation moving!”

U.S. Rep. Mike Haridopolos supported the proposal to hold app stores accountable and provide parents with greater tools because the “influence that that phone has is powerful.”

“Why wouldn’t we had just like you have ratings on movies and the same things to be held online, because you cannot even go down to all different paths and online?” Haridopolos said. “And even when you had your blockers on, kids are creative, and they’re finding ways around it. And so it’s something we have to look at because the influence that that phone has is powerful.”

Both Apple and Google have recently updated their child safety measures to preempt legislation requiring app stores to offer better tools to developers and parental consent mechanisms. However, legislators have deemed these efforts insufficient.

Earlier this year, the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI) released a paper advocating for app store age verification and parental consent.

“Age verification at the app store and operating system levels has several advantages: Compliance burden limited to a small number of highly resourced firms; Centralization avoids fragmentation across hundreds of thousands of apps; More likely to survive constitutional scrutiny,” posted Evan Swarztrauber, Senior Fellow at FAI.

Other states considering similar legislation include Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, West Virginia, and more.

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A battle of David versus Goliath has emerged in response to a bill filed in the House and Senate which is supported by the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR).

The bill (SB 1656) proposes amendments to Florida Statute 651 which are intended to reform the law that governs continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs), especially provisions intended to give the OIR new tools to deal with CCRC bankruptcies.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Yaworsky has gone on record criticizing a major continuing care provider association because some of its members have pressured retirement home residents to oppose provisions of the bill that are supported by Florida Life Care Residents Association (FLiCRA), the association made up of 13,000 residents of retirement communities across Florida.

The Commissioner communicated in writing to LeadingAge Southeast that he found the association was engaging in “unacceptable and unproductive behavior.”

Hank Keith, who is CEO of Westminster Communities of Florida, has also come under fire from Westminster retirement community residents across the state, after he wrote to residents personally several times urging them to launch a letter-writing campaign to urge legislators to oppose the OIR bill.

In his letters to residents Keith claimed that the OIR bill would lead to “significant increases in monthly costs” for residents and would “reduce charitable impact.”

FLiCRA Executive Director Bennett Napier says FLiCRA “supports specific provisions in the bills centered around new and improved definitions, additional financial transparency and protection of resident financial interests.”

“Like other stakeholders, FLiCRA wants to ensure the Florida CCRC marketplace is stable and able to grow to meet consumer demand.” Napier said. “We appreciate that a number of owner/operators of Florida CCRCs chose not to engage their residents in letter writing against the House and Senate bills that are likely to be amended during the committee process.”

Some Westminster residents believe their friends and neighbors may have been misled into signing the form letters that Westminster management provided to them.

One such resident is former Rep. Marjorie Turnbull, who lives at Westminster Oaks in Tallahassee. After receiving communication from Westminster that included a pitch from Keith criticizing the bill, sample letters, and contact information for legislators, Turnbull fired back a response asking Westminster to withdraw the request.

“I was perturbed by the email asking Westminster Oaks residents to contact their legislators regarding a bill that has not been explained to us in detail prior to this request,” Turnbull said. “Without more detailed information and a like statement from FLiCRA, which solicits resident input prior to taking a position, I would suggest that any resident, who sends such a letter to a legislator, may not be acting in his/her own best interest.”

“It would be wise (for Westminster) to retract the request until we receive more information,” she concluded.

It appears Westminster instructed managers at all 12 of its Florida CCRC locations to distribute the Keith communication to residents.

At the Sandhill Cove Senior Living Community in Palm City, local management took it a step further and made a presentation to the community at both the February and March “Cup of Joe” monthly gatherings.

Sandhill Cove resident Pete Morrisey said the presentations came without any advance notice. “At the end of the meetings they said there were form letters they could give to people,” Morrisey said.

Morrisey said he agrees with Turnbull that the tactics of Westminster and some other owner/operators surely led some residents to sign form letters without fully knowing what they were opposing.

The OIR bill is scheduled to be taken up by the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Monday.

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