Statement from Morgan Reed, president of ACT | The App Association on the Re-Introduction of the Open App Markets Act
“This bill is a mistake,” said Morgan Reed, president of ACT | The App Association. “Without a federal privacy and data security framework, this bill sacrifices consumer protections and small businesses to fill the coffers of multi-billion-dollar companies that want free distribution from mobile platform operators. This is another example of how small businesses and entrepreneurs are being crushed underfoot while 800-pound gorilla tech companies are fighting it out.” Background ACT | The App Association continues its opposition to [...]
The EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy: A New Chapter for European Innovation?
On 28 May 2025, the European Commission released its new Startup and Scaleup Strategy, aiming to make the EU a more attractive destination to launch and grow tech-driven businesses. At ACT | The App Association, we welcome the strategy as a meaningful step forward. More than a political ambition, it's a practical roadmap to tackle the fragmentation, funding gaps, and regulatory hurdles that have held back too many European startups for too long. Earlier this year, we submitted input [...]
ACT | The App Association Publishes White Paper Antitrust at a Crossroads: Protecting Innovation in the AI Era at AI Innovation Briefing on Capitol Hill
Today, The App Association released its latest white paper and research examining how policymakers can help preserve America’s global leadership in artificial intelligence innovation. Antitrust at a Crossroads: Protecting Innovation in the AI Era provides a landscape analysis of the global AI ecosystem and a detailed overview of practical applications for the technology today and in the near future, before concluding with guidance for policymakers. “As the global AI race continues to intensify, it’s essential that the United States remain [...]
Meta Takes its Texas Rodeo Global
Meta’s push for Texas’s new age-verification law—requiring app stores to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for minors—appears, at first, to be about child safety. In reality, it’s a strategic move to shift legal risk. While marketed as a way to ease compliance for smaller developers, the law imposes significant new burdens on them. Any app that receives a ‘parental consent’ flag for a user under 13 gains what U.S. law calls ‘actual knowledge’ of that child’s age—triggering [...]