South Dakota

Lawmaker panel set to back app store and device-based age verification for minors • South Dakota Searchlight

Published

1 year ago

October 2, 2024

Companies that run app stores or make mobile phones and tablets could be required to verify the age of their users in South Dakota under the terms of legislative proposals presented Wednesday in Pierre.

Lawmakers with the Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Regulation of Internet Access by Minors voted unanimously to ask the state Legislative Research Council to draft the two “age gating” bills for presentation during the 2025 legislative session, which starts in January.

South Dakota attorney general tells lawmakers to consider age verification for porn sites

Committee members heard testimony for and against the age verification strategy during the seven-hour hearing. A representative from Facebook parent company Meta and online safety advocates were among those to support the ideas; trade group representatives for app developers and other tech companies came out against them.

No state has passed laws for app- or device-based age verification, but Meta is among the players to have signaled support for the idea, and U.S. Rep. John James, R-Michigan, has introduced a bill on app-based verification in Congress.

“This is a bipartisan idea, a common sense idea,” said John Schweppe, policy director for the Virginia-based American Principles Project, which he described as “a pro-family conservative group. “It’s been something that folks have frankly agreed on for a long time, that we should be able to protect kids from harmful material online.”

Schweppe pointed to the passage of age verification laws in 19 states that put the burden for verification on websites or social media companies. The South Dakota House of Representatives passed a similar bill this year, but it was killed in a Senate committee.
Other states’ bills have faced legal challenges from tech companies, which argue they violate the First Amendment rights of adults. One such law out of Texas currently awaits a hearing from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Proposals pitched as ‘one and done’ age verification

App-based age verification would require app stores run by companies like Apple or Google to offer parental control features, many of which are already available. App stores would be required to take “commercially reasonable and technically feasible steps” to determine or estimate a user’s age and to require those younger than 16 to get a parent’s permission before downloading apps to mobile devices.

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The law would require app stores to send “a digital signal” to websites, applications or online services to say if a person accessing them is younger than 13 years of age, between 13 and 16, between 16 and 18, or older than 18.

Companies that develop apps, meanwhile, would be required to use that information to “provide readily available features” that would allow parents to limit their child’s time on the app, see who their “friends” are on social media apps, to see who their children are messaging with and who their children have blocked.

The device-based age verification proposal would include the same requirements for app stores, but would also require device-makers to try and determine a user’s age and send digital signals.

Some social media apps already offer parental control features similar to those that would be required under such a proposal. Meta recently rolled out a series of updates to Instagram meant to offer more control to parents and more restrictive experiences for teen accounts.

Nicole Lopez, who oversees youth safety policy for Meta, appeared in person at the South Dakota Capitol building Wednesday to outline some of those features and pledge its support for the app-based age verification proposal.

“While Meta has a robust, multi-layered approach to determining one’s age, we are only one part of the online ecosystem,” Lopez said. “The reality is kids are not only getting smartphones at increasingly younger ages, but they hop from app to app to app to app.”

One study from the University of Michigan, Lopez said, found that teens access an average of 40 apps a week. An app-based age control system “will not only make it easier on parents, but it will empower them when it comes to overseeing their teens’ experiences online.”

Joel Thayer, president of the bipartisan Digital Progress Institute, said an app store-based system could be the simplest way to add guardrails against the ills of social media.

“The evidence is staggering,” Thayer said, that “social media is harmful to children. He cited a recent call for a warning label on social media from the U.S. surgeon general and a host of statistics tying depression, body image issues and spikes in suicidal thoughts by teens to spending five or more hours a day on social media.

“The good news is that states like yours can take action,” Thayer said.

An app store-based system with digital signals “presents a one-and-done solution for apps.

“You only prove it to the app store once,” he said.

Opponents: Free speech concerns, unintended consequences

Kristian Stout of the Portland, Oregon-based nonprofit International Center for Law and Economics testified against the proposal. App store data on user ages can be unreliable, he said, and forcing companies to expend resources to create digital signals could stifle innovation in smaller companies.

Stout also talked through a few of the ways users can bypass digital signals. Users can switch their mobile browser to desktop mode, for example, “which makes a website think you’re not on a mobile device,” thereby preventing mobile device signals – and their associated age-gating content restrictions – from being sent when a user tries to access adult content from an app like Reddit.

“Smart kids know how to do this,” Stout said. “If I know how to do it and I’m 47, my 16-year-old son definitely knows how to do this.

Stout was also among the witnesses to encourage lawmakers to consider an approach that would place a premium on educating parents and children about online safety and the existing tools to track youth behavior.

‘Firehose’ of information confronts legislators studying internet use by children and AI

Justin Hill of NetChoice, a tech company trade association, told lawmakers that it’s unnecessary to pass laws that might fail a First Amendment test when so many options already exist for parents.

“The devices already do all the things that were said today,” Hill said.

Hill’s organization also submitted written testimony opposing app-based age verification, as did the Computer and Communications Industry Association in a letter submitted to the Legislature.

That organization’s policy director, Khara Boender, testified that digital literacy is key. She also talked about the bills’ assumptions regarding traditional family structures in a country where not all children live with their parents, and how the device-based proposal raises questions about how the law would handle devices that aren’t purchased new.

“When a cousin or sibling graduates from college and they get a new phone for a graduation gift, they may be transferring that phone down to a younger sibling, where we need to actually ensure that the protections and device settings that currently exist are turned on correctly,” Boender said.

Two proposals garner committee support

Committee members had four versions of the age verification bills to review Wednesday. One focused on app store-based age verification, another on app store- and device-based verification. Each of those would level civil and criminal penalties against non-compliant companies.

Another version of the app store-based proposal only applied civil penalties.

Yet another proposal would revive the 2024 bill that would have required website-based age verification to access adult content. That bill was sponsored by Rep. Bethany Soye, R-Sioux Falls, who is also a committee member. On Wednesday, she voiced concerns that app store-based age-gating would fail to address the issue of minors accessing pornography on web browsers. Others testified along those same lines, arguing that South Dakota’s failure to advance that bill was a stain on its reputation as a state that cares about kids.

“I think we need to stop talking about it and start being about it,” said Karen McNeal, an independent state Senate candidate from Rapid City.

The committee voted unanimously to send the first two proposals — containing civil and criminal penalties — to the Legislative Research Council for drafting. They also voted to send a bill that would define artificial intelligence under state law to the council.

Committee vice-chairman, Republican Rep. Mike Weisgram of Fort Pierre, said the endorsements wouldn’t prevent individual lawmakers from sponsoring the remaining proposals.

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10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

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SD Lottery Millionaire for Life winning numbers for Feb. 26, 2026

Published

22 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.

Here’s a look at Feb. 26, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from Feb. 26 drawing

03-14-22-50-57, Bonus: 04

Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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South Dakota

SNAP soda ban headed to desk of South Dakota governor, who’s concerned about costs

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

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SNAP soda ban headed to desk of South Dakota governor, who’s concerned about costs

State Sen. Sydney Davis, R-Burbank, speaks in the South Dakota Senate at the Capitol in Pierre on Feb. 10, 2026. Davis is sponsoring a bill that would ban the use of SNAP benefits for soda purchases. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

By: John Hult

PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – The question of whether South Dakota moves to ban the use of government food assistance for sugary drinks is in the hands of Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden, who has signaled his opposition to the bill all through the 2026 legislative session.

The state Senate voted 27-6 on Wednesday to endorse House Bill 1056, after the House passed it earlier 58-11. Assuming the same levels of support, both margins are wide enough to overcome a Rhoden veto, should he choose to issue one.

The bill directs the Department of Social Services to ask for a federal waiver to allow the state to bar the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for the purchase of soft drinks.

SNAP is a federal program, managed by the state, through which people with low incomes get a monthly allowance for food through a debit-like card that can be used at most stores to buy nearly any consumable grocery item save alcohol and prepared foods.

Representatives from Rhoden’s office testified against the bill in House and Senate committees, arguing that the administrative costs would be too high. A fiscal note attached to the bill between its passage in the House and its appearance on the Senate’s Wednesday calendar estimated that implementation would cost $310,000 through the first two years. Those costs would come from hiring an extra employee and contracting for software to track sales, file reports and help retailers determine which drinks are banned.

Backers see long-term savings to the state, though. A high percentage of SNAP recipients are also on Medicaid, a taxpayer-funded health insurance program open to disabled and income-eligible people.

On Wednesday, Burbank Republican Sen. Sydney Davis noted the connection between excess soda consumption and health problems like obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. Medicaid dental costs alone add up $51 million a year, she said.

Mitchell Republican Sen. Paul Miskimins, a retired dentist, told the body he once counted 32 cavities and seven abscesses in the mouths of 2-year-old twin boys who were covered by Medicaid.

He attributed the tooth decay to sugary beverages.

“I don’t know if that first visit was more traumatic on the boys or on my dental staff and myself,” said Miskimins.

Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule, was the lone senator to speak in opposition on the Senate floor. She argued that some stores might stop accepting SNAP payments due to the administrative burden of sorting barred products from the rest of their inventories, and pointed out that the bill wouldn’t do a thing to prevent SNAP recipients from loading up on sugary foods like ice cream or snack cakes.

“It gives this look as if there’s going to be this big, huge change in the way that people buy products, but it’s really not going to be,” Grove said.

Some surrounding states, including Nebraska, have moved to ask for a waiver to ban soda sales through SNAP. Such waivers are now an option, as President Donald Trump’s administration is willing to consider granting them. Former President Joe Biden’s administration was not.

Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, the South Dakota bill’s prime sponsor, got a letter last week from Trump administration officials expressing support for her proposal.

In response, Rhoden spokeswoman Josie Harms told South Dakota Searchlight that the governor “has always been supportive of the Trump Administration’s efforts to Make America Healthy Again,” using a reference to the policy agenda branding used by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“We have met directly with his Administration on this issue, and at no point has our opposition been directed at President Trump or his efforts to reform SNAP,” Harms said. “Our focus has always been on ensuring the implementation of SNAP reform works effectively for our state.”

Harms said Wednesday that Rhoden would answer questions about the bill at a Thursday press conference.

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