Meta, app makers launch Washington lobby to fight Apple and Google

By Emily Birnbaum, Bloomberg

App makers Meta Platforms Inc., Spotify Technology SA and Match Group Inc. are girding for a high-stakes political battle with the world’s two dominant smartphone platforms over who should take responsibility for verifying users’ ages.

The app makers this week are launching a lobbying coalition to take on Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. as legislation to require age verification gains momentum amid rising public concern over minors’ online access to inappropriate material.

The Coalition for a Competitive Mobile Experience also will press app makers’ long-simmering grievances that the iPhone and Android platforms and their app stores unfairly discriminate against competing software, app and hardware creators. The group will lobby federal and state policymakers to enact legislation cracking down on the smartphone companies’ business practices, as well as aid the Justice Department in its cases against Apple and Google.

Some members of the coalition, such as smartwatch maker Garmin Ltd., are focused on ensuring Apple and Google products work effectively with technology and apps from rival companies.

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“What these founding companies share in common is they rely on the mobile ecosystem in order to serve their customers,” said Brandon Kressin, the director of the newly-formed coalition. “They each recognize there’s power in numbers, especially when going up against companies as powerful as the duopoly.”

Representatives for Apple and Alphabet did not respond to requests for comment.

The app makers’ cause has gained new urgency as they anticipate legal requirements to verify users’ ages. That responsibility would risk an avalanche of costly lawsuits and require investment in a complex new system to handle reams of sensitive personal information about minors.

Representatives of Meta, Snap Inc. and other apps argue Apple and Google should be in charge of ensuring minors are blocked from downloading certain apps. Apple and Google, on the other hand, have pushed for apps to be given the responsibility.

Utah in March became the first state to enact a law requiring app stores to verify user ages and obtain consent from parents before minors can download or purchase certain apps. Lawmakers in the House and Senate are planning to introduce similar legislation in the coming months.

“Having a bill in place matters a lot, something to debate and have a discussion around,” Kressin said about the upcoming age verification fight. “Hopefully there will be a path forward this year.”

Kressin, a longtime antitrust lawyer who has represented Match Group and Spotify, works for the law firm co-founded by new FTC Commissioner Mark Meador. He previously worked for the law firm founded by Biden’s Justice Department antitrust head Jonathan Kanter.

Kressin said the coalition will also speak to antitrust enforcers at the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department about their concerns. The DOJ is currently suing Apple for allegedly monopolizing the smartphone market, and it is considering how Google should remedy its behavior after a judge found the tech giant monopolized online search.

“There’s a lot of opportunities for us to talk to enforcers,” said Kressin.

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