Tim Cook Called TX Gov to Stop Online Child-Safety Legislation

Apple stepped up efforts in recent weeks to fight Texas legislation that would require the iPhone-maker to verify ages of device users, even drafting Chief Executive Tim Cook into the fight.

The CEO called Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week to ask for changes to the legislation or, failing that, for a veto, according to people familiar with the call. These people said that the conversation was cordial and that it made clear the extent of Apple’s interest in stopping the bill.

Abbott has yet to say whether he will sign it, though it passed the Texas legislature with veto-proof majorities.

In the weeks leading up to its passage, Apple hired more lobbyists to pressure lawmakers. An interest group it funds targeted the Austin, Texas, area with ads saying the legislation is “backed by porn websites.” Google also finances the interest group and is fighting the legislation. The law’s supporters say adult-content sellers don’t favor it.

Texas would be the largest state to adopt what is called an app-store accountability law. Similar laws have been proposed across at least nine states and adopted in one, Utah. Federal legislation also has been introduced. Meta Platforms—along with social-media companies X and Snap—also have played a role in the lobbying fight, advocating that what is known as “age-gating” should be the responsibility of app stores rather than individual apps.

The Texas bill is turning heads because its success in the second-biggest state with a Republican legislature could foreshadow adoption across the country, potentially creating new costs for Apple and Google, as well as for some app makers.

The law requires those running app stores, primarily Apple and Google, to verify the age of a device owner. If the owner is a minor, their app-store account would have to be tied to a parent’s account. The parent would be notified when their child wants to download an app and have to approve or deny the download.

Proponents argue that such laws will give parents more control over their children’s use of smartphones, and that children aren’t legally allowed to agree to apps’ terms of service in the first place.

Critics say such a law could impose costs on a swath of apps whose content isn’t controversial. They also say the bills are allowing Meta and other apps to shunt responsibility for online safety onto others.

One reason the laws are being crafted to have app stores verify ages, and not individual apps that are viewed as problematic, is that the latter approach would likely be struck down on free speech grounds, say those who have helped shepherd the bills.

Meta has 13 lobbyists working in Texas, according to the state’s Ethics Commission. Apple has six and Google has seven.

An Apple spokesman said that the company wants to strengthen online safety for children but that the Texas bill threatens user privacy. “If enacted, app marketplaces will be required to collect and keep sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app, even if it’s an app that simply provides weather updates or sports scores,” he said.

Meta has said that verifying ages at the app store-level is easier and helps preserve privacy, by only having children’s ages stored in one place instead of on every app they access.

A spokesman for Abbott said “safety and online privacy for Texas children remains a priority for Governor Abbott. The Governor will thoughtfully review this legislation, as he does with any legislation sent to his desk.”

The age-verification bills are the latest threat to Apple’s lucrative apps business. Last month, a judge forced the company to allow app developers to avoid Apple’s steep commissions on app-store sales, a move the European Union is also pushing for.

It is also the latest sign that Cook is playing a personal role lobbying for the company. When it comes to tariffs, he is known to call President Trump directly to advocate for the company’s position. He was spotted visiting the White House on Tuesday. He also personally donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

Apple lobbyists successfully blocked a similar effort in Louisiana last spring, but that bill has returned this year and is advancing.

Some states are moving ahead with app-store bills anyway.

“The more we can help parents understand what their children are really interacting with and give them tools to help them make good parenting decisions, then I think we’re all better off,” said Angela Paxton, the Texas state senator who sponsored the legislation.