Google—Google lobbied state legislatures to shift app-store child-safety liability onto a model bill barring private lawsuits

Politico reported on October 4, 2026 that Google and Apple have been lobbying state legislatures across the US (including Arizona, Georgia, and Kansas) to promote an alternative bill, the 'Mobile Ecosystem Responsibility Act' (MERA), in response to a wave of state app-store accountability and age-verification bills. MERA would bar private rights of action over app-store child-safety and age-verification failures, leaving enforcement solely to state attorneys general and shifting liability away from the app stores. A Google lobbyist presented the alternative bill during a Georgia Senate committee hearing on February 17, 2026, and Google/Apple lobbyists circulated the model bill within three days of a competing Arizona bill's introduction. The reporting was based on draft legislation, internal emails, and interviews with seven people with knowledge of the effort.