Tim Cook welcomes a Europe-wide child safety framework in Strasbourg, as the EU KIDS Act heads into negotiationTim Cook welcomes a Europe-wide child safety framework in Strasbourg, as the EU KIDS Act heads into negotiation

Apple's executive chairman Tim Cook visited the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 6 October and praised the EU's work on protecting children online.

Cook met the Parliament's president, Roberta Metsola, and lawmakers working on children's safety, AFP reports. Metsola's office said the two discussed the growing need to keep children safe in a fast-changing digital world. Speaking afterwards at Apple's store in Strasbourg, Cook said Apple welcomed the Parliament's push for "a harmonised, Europe-wide framework to keep kids safe". He added that Apple was very encouraged that the KIDS Act proposed by the European Commission had started a constructive conversation.

It was Cook's second meeting with EU leaders on the subject in a month. iPhoneSoft reported that he met Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in New York during the UN General Assembly in September, and that she posted afterwards that they had discussed the KIDS Act. AFP also notes that Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese met Cook in California a little over two weeks ago to seek support for child safety laws there.

What does the EU KIDS Act propose?

The Commission published the proposal on 17 September. Under it, children under 13 could not use social media. Those aged 13 and 14 could have limited mini accounts reached through a parent or guardian's account, and people could open their own accounts from 15. iPhoneSoft adds that it requires safety by design, including limits on features that encourage excessive use, and that platforms would have to check ages.

It is a proposal, not law. AFP points out that it needs agreement between the Parliament and the member states, which can take months, and the text can change along the way.

Why Cook's role matters here

Cook handed the chief executive job to John Ternus last month. Apple has said his job as chairman includes dealing with governments around the world, and this trip is that job in practice. AFP notes that his remarks will be welcome in Brussels, where Apple has spent years blaming EU competition rules for late product launches in Europe.

Our take

Read the words closely. Cook praised a harmonised framework and a constructive conversation. He did not endorse the under-13 ban, the mini accounts or any other provision, and AppleInsider makes the same point. What Apple wants is one rule for 27 countries rather than 27 rules, and on that its interests and the Commission's genuinely line up.

The detail that will decide whether the agreement lasts is who checks the age. A law that makes every app verify every user is costly and invasive. A law that lets the operating system or the app store vouch for an age puts Apple at the centre of the system, which is a responsibility Apple might accept and a role regulators are not always keen to give it. We set out how far the KIDS Act reaches into infinite scroll and streaks and into apps with an AI chat feature, and those provisions are what app makers should be watching.

Agreement on children does not end the larger argument either. Days earlier, Bloomberg reported that Siri AI may be kept from EU iPhones for months. APPDOOK's reading is that Cook found the one EU file where Apple and Brussels want the same outcome, and chose to be seen backing it.