Apple successfully defeated proposed legislation in Louisiana that would have required the iPhone maker to allow developers who market their apps on the App Store to use alternative payment systems. Will Smith movie in the stateAccording to a report.
In 2021, Bayou State lawmakers were inclined to approve a bill that would allow app developers to use alternative payment systems, bypassing Apple's App Store.
Apple, which charges developers a fee to make their apps available for iPhone users to download from its App Store, saw the bill as a threat to one of its major revenue sources and intervened. According to the Wall Street Journal.
An employee of the Cupertino, California-based technology giant reportedly told Tanner Magee, a senior lawmaker in the Louisiana House of Representatives, that Apple would cut his job if he moved forward with the App Store bill. Production of the film “Emancipation”, The historical drama stars Smith as “Whipped Peter” — the former slave whose scarred back was infamously photographed in 1863.
“Freedom” Filmed in LouisianaAccording to the Journal report, Apple representatives told Magee that the company would move the film's shoot elsewhere, which would hurt the local economy.
“They basically said if we didn’t repeal the bill, they would repeal the filibuster and hurt our economy,” Magee told the Journal.
An Apple spokesman denied to the Journal that any threats had been made.
An Apple spokesman told the newspaper: “We always operate with the highest standards of integrity, and the allegations made against us in this case are false.”
The Post has sought comment from Apple.
More recently, Apple is reported to have thrown its weight behind another proposed law, which was filed by Louisiana lawmakers to force the company to verify the age of its smartphone users.
Earlier this year, freshman state legislator Kim Carver told the Journal that Apple lobbyists flooded her with “panicked” messages when they learned she was going to include an age-verification provision in a proposed bill to protect children from the traps of social media and technology.
Louisiana was one of the first states to attempt to force Apple to verify the age of users of its devices.
Child safety advocates have argued that Apple and Google — the two companies that dominate the smartphone operating system market — are best positioned to keep children safe by verifying their ages.
Rival tech companies such as Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) and Match Group have supported this approach – arguing that app developers should not bear the burden alone.
“Instead of putting the onus on parents to upload sensitive information for every app their kids use, or provide proof of identity for their teen's age, app stores could provide a central location for families to do this,” a Meta spokesperson told the Journal.
A representative from Match Group, whose portfolio of companies includes Tinder and Bumble, told the Journal that, “Children are less safe when responsibility is limited solely to developers.”
Under Carver's proposal, companies that failed to make “reasonable efforts” to verify the age of their users would face hefty fines.
But Apple reacted angrily to the legislation, and accused Carver of including a “meta poison pill”.
According to Carver, Apple's lobbyists bombarded him with messages “all day, every day”.
“At that point, I thought, ‘OK, we’re done with this conversation,’” Carver told the Journal.
“We passed the bill unanimously in the House [without the provision that would have obligated Apple],
Louisiana was the first state to pass a law requiring age verification with ID for sites hosting adult content. Other states approved similar legislation.
In the month of May, The Post was the first to report that Google and Meta Nearly $1 million was spent on lobbyists hired to oppose proposed legislation in New York aimed at protecting children online.
Meta is the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Already facing multiple lawsuits It was banned across the country, with allegations that it exposed children to harmful content Their mental health is adversely affected.
