Last year, Apple and Google were also ordered to remove from their stores several dating apps that allowed kids under 13 to sign up. In late 2018, a coalition of 22 consumer and public health advocacy groups, led by CCFC and Center for Digital Democracy, filed a complaint with the FTC asking it to investigate and sanction Google for how its Play Store markets apps to children.

“My hope is the YouTube settlement will lead to a whole bunch of improvements across kids media.”Įveryone is waiting with bated breath to see which companies will be struck down next, and it seems like the app stores are likely candidates. “I think that settlement is going to change what happens with apps, and I think apps are more complicated than YouTube,” says Josh Golin, executive director at Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC). While many are familiar with the FTC/New York Attorney General’s landmark US$170-million fine against YouTube in 2019, this may just be the beginning of what is about to be a monsoon of penalties many in the industry are not prepared for. Dark clouds are starting to roll over the app stores, as the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rains down on the digital kids space like never before.

Kinzoo download