I think it’s important we don’t get confused with all the bad stuff being pushed at the same time…
These are actually three completely separate Texas laws/policies:
1. HB 1181 (Adult Content Websites), June 2025
This law only applies to pornography and adult content websites where more than one-third of content is “sexual material harmful to minors” (ondato.com / scotusblog.com) Users must verify they’re 18+ before accessing those specific adult sites. The Supreme Court even ruled that “adults have no First Amendment right to avoid age verification” (hunton.com) California has nothing like this.
You can view a map of states that have similar laws here:
2. SB 2420 (App Store Verification) Jan 2026 (what OP posted)
This is the VERY bad law that requires Apple and Google to add age verification for downloading ANY app from their app stores. This includes weather, sports, news, or privacy apps (chron.com) Similar laws will also take effect in Utah and Louisiana in 2026. Not California. (hopefully never)
3. Digital ID Programs (what @Neigdoig you’re referring to)
This is a third separate issue state mobile driver’s license programs. ~17 states have operational digital IDs, including California. This isn’t age verification law, it’s about digitizing government-issued IDs for things like TSA checkpoints. And frankly I don’t have an inherent issue with this if things are stored locally on device with solid security. This is no different than something like Apple Pay.
You can see who participates here:
Just want to be clear these are all completely different laws with different implications for privacy and daily use.
Can you expand on this? What trend did they start?