US national level OS-level age verification bill proposed

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8250/all-info

Article

  • H.R.8250 proposes requiring OS providers to verify user age before app access
  • Bipartisan Parents Decide Act; bill text not yet published as of April 14, 2026
  • Would apply to phones, tablets, and other devices at the OS level

Discussion

  • Bill text unavailable; commenters waiting before drawing firm conclusions
  • Technical absurdities flagged: cron jobs, API-to-API calls, sudo, multi-user systems have no ‘age’
  • Meta suspected of lobbying for this to burden Apple/Google/MS competitors
  • Consensus: unconstitutional compelled speech; court challenge expected to kill it quickly

Discuss on HN


Type Link
Added Apr 15, 2026
Modified Apr 15, 2026