Reining in app stores to protect the young

Singapore is set to roll out a code requiring app stores to check the age of users before they can download apps meant for adults.

- Osmond Chia Sarah Koh

Just as age verification is mandatory for pub entry, app stores will soon need to check the age of young users before allowing them to download apps for grown-ups.

Come March 31, Singapore's media regulator will roll out a new code requiring, among many things, that app stores screen and prevent users aged below 18 from downloading apps meant adults, such as dating apps or those with sexual content. App stores have one year until March 2026 to roll out the measures.

All other obligations spelt out by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in the Code of Practice for Online Safety for App Distribution Services will kick in on March 31, 2025.

For one thing, app stores must have community standards in place and enforce it among app developers, and also respond promptly to reports of violations flagged by its users.

The new code aims to set guard rails at the gateway to apps, which have come under fire for exposing children to all sorts of harmful content, including sexual and violent material and content linked to selfharm or cyber bullying.

The requirements of the code will apply to Apple, Google, Huawei, Samsung and Microsoft as they operate stores or online portals for downloading applications.

With the responsibility pinned on app stores to manage app developers, the authorities have a single point of contact to crack down on problematic apps that also contain, among other things, terrorism-related or child abuse material that could be exposed to children.

The new measures are an attempt to rein in app stores in a similar way to how social media platforms are required to provide restricted account settings and tools for parents to manage their children's safety under Singapore's Code of Practice for Online Safety, which took effect in 2023.

Rule flouters risk being fined up to $1 million or blocked under the Broadcasting Act, which was amended in 2023 to rein in social media platforms and app stores.