Anthony Albanese has met Apple chief executive Tim Cook at the company’s headquarters in California to discuss online safety for children and Australia’s under-16 social media restrictions.
The Australian prime minister spent about an hour with Cook and Apple’s executive team at Apple Park in Cupertino, continuing discussions that began when the Apple boss called him in June about the company’s new child-safety controls.
Cook had told Albanese that Apple’s changes were partly influenced by Australia’s social media age ban, alongside the company’s own research into the effects of social media on children.
Apple’s updated controls allow parents to limit the time children spend on particular apps and devices, restrict who can contact them and introduce other safeguards.
After the meeting, Cook said he was grateful to welcome Albanese to Apple Park to discuss Apple’s “longstanding commitment to Australia” and its latest innovations “to help keep children safe online”.
Albanese described it as a “proud moment” for Australia to have the head of a company that had “changed the world” acknowledge its leadership in protecting children from the harmful effects of technology.
The prime minister also stressed that the government’s approach was not a war on technology. He said Apple products had delivered “enormous benefits”, while artificial intelligence could improve healthcare, including cancer detection and diagnosis.
His argument was that people must remain in control of the technology they use. That message is expected to feature in his international push on artificial intelligence ahead of talks at the United Nations.
Albanese also discussed proposed “My Feed, My Way” reforms, which would give social media users greater control over the algorithms determining what appears in their feeds.
The meeting took place inside Apple Park, the company’s vast headquarters, where visiting journalists were permitted to see only selected areas and were barred from photographing the meeting, the buildings or Apple employees.
They were briefly shown a demonstration of Apple’s latest child-friendly features, as well as new products including a foldable Duo phone priced at 3,499 dollars.
