Tim Cook welcomes EU KIDS Act as age verification debate spans Europe and Texas

Tim Cook has welcomed the European Union's proposed KIDS Act, an age verification law that would place app stores and operating systems within its scope, after meeting European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New York last month.

The proposal, put forward by the Commission on September 17, would require everyone's age to be checked before they can use an app or, in some cases, an entire operating system. That would make Apple's own products potential checkpoints, and the company's public support has drawn criticism from digital rights campaigners who argue such schemes undermine privacy.

What Cook and von der Leyen said

Von der Leyen wrote on X that she and Cook had discussed the EU KIDS Act and had "agreed on the importance of privacy, safety and security for children". Cook later met European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and members of the European Parliament who focus on children's safety.

"We also welcome the European Parliament's leadership in championing a harmonised, Europe-wide framework to keep kids safe," Cook said. "We're very encouraged that the EU KIDS Act proposed by the (European) Commission has helped trigger a constructive conversation around this critical issue in Europe."

He added that Apple "innovates every day to combat evolving threats" and is "committed to providing a safe and trusted platform for kids". Metsola's office said the two had "underlined the growing need to ensure the safety and well-being of children in the rapidly evolving digital sphere".

Apple's objections to the Texas law

Cook's support for the EU proposal sits alongside Apple's opposition to a similar law in Texas, which requires age verification checks in app stores. The company has warned that the Texas law would require the collection of "sensitive personal identifying information for every Texan who wants to download an app", even someone who only wants a weather app.

Apple said the Texas law "impacts the privacy of users by requiring the collection of sensitive, personally identifiable information to download any app, even if a user simply wants to check the weather or sports scores". In May, the 5th Circuit US Court of Appeals allowed Texas to enforce the law.

In the EU, questions about the reliability of state-run verification have already been raised by the experience of the bloc's own age verification app, which was hacked in under two minutes in April, with scanned identity documents stored unencrypted.

Campaigners raise civil liberties concerns

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has criticised age verification more broadly. "However they're designed, age gates undermine civil liberties, reduce safety, and create barriers to internet entry, often at the expense of marginalized groups," the group says. It adds that they "create a powerful infrastructure for control and further entrench the power of big tech".

Cook's engagement with governments extends beyond Europe. After meeting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the prime minister reportedly said Cook had described Australia's social media age verification rules as "world-leading".

The wider EU picture

The KIDS Act proposal comes as the EU already applies its Digital Services Act, a law setting rules for online services including social media networks, online marketplaces and app stores, with the aim of protecting people's rights across the bloc. Platforms with more than 45 million monthly users in the EU face stricter duties under the Act: they must assess and reduce risks including harm to children, offer a feed not based on profiling, and avoid deceptive design.

The Commission has also acted against individual platforms under that law. On 24 July 2026 it sent preliminary findings that TikTok accounts for under-18s do not meet the Act's safety standards, because young people could set their accounts to public, allowing content from 16 and 17 year olds to be recommended to any TikTok user. Those findings are preliminary and TikTok has the opportunity to respond.

For families in the UK and elsewhere, the EU debate matters because age verification rules of this kind shape how young people access apps in the first place, and because platforms operating across borders tend to apply changes widely.

For readers asking what this means for them, our guides cover how a social media harm claim works, the court cases we report and the case against the platforms.