Tim Cook praised the European Union’s efforts to strengthen online protections for children during a visit to Strasbourg on October 6, 2026, according to AFP. He welcomed the European Parliament’s push for an EU-wide framework and described debate opened by the European Commission’s proposed EU KIDS Act as encouraging. The proposal is not yet law.
What Tim Cook said in Strasbourg
Cook, identified by AFP as Apple’s executive chairman, met European Parliament President Roberta Metsola during his Strasbourg visit. At an Apple Store, he praised efforts to protect minors online and welcomed the Parliament’s ambition to establish a harmonised framework across the EU.
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AFP reported Cook as saying, in French, that Apple had long advocated legislation setting high standards for privacy and online security. He also said the Commission’s EU KIDS Act proposal had opened a constructive debate on the issue. These English renderings are translations of AFP’s French reporting, not an independently verified English transcript. Cook’s remarks welcome the debate and the goal of a framework; they do not establish that Apple endorses every provision in the proposal. AFP
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What the EU KIDS Act proposal would change
The European Commission adopted its proposal on September 17, 2026. It would set rules for social-media account access by age, alongside requirements for safer service design. The thresholds and features below are those described by the Commission, not current EU-wide legal requirements. European Commission: EU KIDS Act
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| Age | Proposed account access | Key detail |
|---|---|---|
| Under 13 | No access to social media. | Children could use child-friendly video-sharing services through a parent- or guardian-managed account. |
| 13–14 | Supervised mini-accounts with limited features. | The Commission explainer specifies a one-hour daily limit. |
| 15 and older | Ability to open and manage social-media accounts independently. | This is the proposal’s EU-wide minimum age for independently opening an account. |
The proposal also calls for services to be age-appropriate and safe by design. Its proposed protections include safer default settings, limits on design features that encourage excessive use, restrictions on unsolicited contact from strangers, private-by-default profiles for minors, and easier blocking and muting. Some AI companions and chatbots would face default restrictions. The Commission also describes privacy-protective age checks; the proposal’s summary does not mean that a particular verification method has already been settled.
Is the EU KIDS Act law yet?
No. The Commission has proposed the Act, but its provisions are not in force as EU-wide law. The European Parliament and the Council must examine the proposal, negotiate its final text and decide whether to adopt it. The eventual rules could differ from the Commission’s proposal. European Commission: EU KIDS Act
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How this differs from Apple’s parental controls
The EU proposal would set platform-wide obligations if adopted. Apple’s parental controls, by contrast, are tools for managing a child’s use of Apple devices and services; they do not establish the legal age rules for every social-media service in the EU.
Apple’s June 8, 2026 announcement previewed controls including parental approval before a child visits a new Safari website or adds a new contact, app-category time allowances, schedules and a redesigned Screen Time overview. Apple said these features would arrive with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 updates, and noted they were subject to change. That announcement describes planned product features, not confirmation that they are available on every device now. Apple Newsroom announcement
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