La. House approves bill to require minors to have parental permission to download apps

Published: April 23, 2026

By: Sheldon “Trey” Vice III, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE, La. (LSU Manship School News Service) – The House unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would require app providers to verify the age of anyone in Louisiana who creates a digital account and require minors to associate their accounts with those of their parents.

House Bill 977, authored by Rep. Beau Beaullieu, R-New Iberia, was approved 94-0 and sent to the Senate. Beaullieu called the bill a vital step in the right direction to protect children online.

“This is a parental consent bill when it comes to minors in the use of applications,” Beaullieu said.

“The pillar of this bill is the mandate that covered application providers provide verifiable consent before allowing the minor to download the application and make in-app purchases and create a profile,” he said. “The law requires providers to verify the age of users. If a user is determined to be a minor, they must be affiliated with a parent account to ensure adult supervision.”