Albanese Claims Tim Cook Backed Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Ban
September 21, 2026 - 7:35 am
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met Tim Cook at Apple Park on Saturday and claimed that Apple had recognized Australia’s leadership on online safety.
He stated that seeing the new safety features in action proved that when a line is drawn, tech companies will step up. He emphasized that Apple is demonstrating how the industry can compete on safety credentials rather than convenience:
“Australia is proud to lead the world with our social media age ban and online safety approach,” said Prime Minister Albanese.
Albanese later told AAP that it was a proud moment when Cook, heading a company like Apple, recognized Australia’s leadership. However, recognizing leadership and claiming direct endorsement are two different things.
The new role of Tim Cook, now executive chairman after handing over CEO responsibilities to John Ternus on September 1st, includes policy engagement and regulatory relationships.
This is not the first time Albanese has publicly aligned Cook with support for the ban. In June, he claimed that Cook had called him personally, inspired by Australia's law, which Apple’s framing at the time made no mention of.
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act has been in place since December 10, 2025, covering major social media platforms with penalties reaching A$49.5 million. A bill introduced in June aims to double that fine and expand the regulator’s investigative powers.
Enforcement remains a challenge, as testers found in July that nine out of ten platforms accepted self-declared age of 16 without verification.
Apple's recent change involves automatically evaluating user age for Australian App Store downloads, blocking R18+ and simulated gambling titles, and providing developers with a Declared Age Range API. This shifts responsibility from the app developer to Apple itself, which goes against their previous stance that age assurance should be handled at the device level.