Apple’s new parental controls aim to keep Apple out of trouble

Apple has announced an expanded suite of tools for parents with Children’s accounts At WWDC, including greater ability to customize screen time for children and the ability to block bloody or violent images in messages before children see them. Raja Bose, Apple’s director of trust, safety and product marketing, talked about some of the ways Apple believes it can be beneficial for children to have access to devices. “On the one hand, there are a lot of benefits to your child having their own device,” Buss said. “You’ll feel more comfortable since you can stay connected, know where they are and provide them with great apps that can help them learn and grow.” But then he acknowledged the dangers of unfettered Internet access before children are ready for it.

The company stressed some basic principles in its pitch for the new kid safety features: that parents should be the ones to decide what their kids have access to, that Apple’s recommendations will be shaped by expert research that balances the risks and benefits of technology for kids, and that some harmful things on the Internet are beyond its control. “While Apple’s powerful controls help parents manage which apps their kids can access and when, it’s developers who play an important role in ensuring kids have age-appropriate in-app experiences,” Anne Tai, Apple’s senior director of Market Platforms and Technologies, said during the presentations.

That last point seemed like a message not just to Apple customers, but also to politicians and regulators debating who should be responsible for keeping kids off certain parts of the Internet. As policymakers become more enthusiastic about age verification, Meta and other app and website developers have been forced to roll out age verification systems in some countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and parts of the United States. In turn, I have Supported proposals This would put the onus on app stores to verify users’ ages instead, and then send signals about those ages to app developers.

Apple has complied with age verification rules where necessary — that Began to require information Such as a credit card or government ID to create a new Apple account in Texas earlier this month. The WWDC presentation followed a long tradition of companies trying to prove they can protect children without regulation, or anything else. Mita did too. But he particularly focused on the need for developers to participate.

“Many apps already offer parental controls to help protect kids from content they shouldn’t see,” Tai said. “We believe that every application has the same responsibility.” Thai promoted the company’s APIs that developers can use to allow parental consents within apps and protect children from exposure to nudity. (Even when Apple executives made these announcements inside Apple Park, Protesters outside Its visitor center was calling on the company to remove apps that use artificial intelligence to actually take off users’ clothes. Including X’s Grok.)

Apple executives stressed that they are following the guidance of medical experts, including through the American Academy of Pediatrics. Family media planwhich encourages A A nuanced approach to media consumptionrather than strict limits on screen time. Apple similarly wants to avoid dictating the amount of screen time kids should spend from above. During the event, Apple’s senior vice president of health, Sumbul Ahmed Desai, said, “Every child is unique, and parents are in the best position to decide what’s right for their family.” It positions its products as the best way for parents to enforce those decisions, but it’s not a silver bullet for making the entire Internet safe.