According to the latest report from the Wall Street Journal, while Apple is taking steps to address smartphone addiction, the company is also spending millions of dollars lobbying regulators to limit regulatory requirements on the iPhone and App Store.
Apple is reportedly putting pressure on several states to seek legislation to regulate smartphone use among teenagers. As early as early 2024, Louisiana introduced related legislation, for which Apple hired four additional lobbyists. The legislation involves a social media bill that would require Apple to add and enforce age restrictions through the App Store, rather than leaving that responsibility to individual app developers.
“I don’t want to exempt Meta, Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat from responsibility,” said Carver, the bill’s sponsor. However, in discussions with tech companies, a Meta lobbyist convinced him that it made more sense for the App Store to bear the responsibility.
Carver agreed, arguing that it would be better if parents could complete trusted age verification in one place, rather than having to repeat it every time they use different apps. So despite frequent text messages from Apple lobbyists calling it Meta’s “poison pill” proposal, Carver included Apple’s provisions in his proposed legislation.
An Apple spokesperson accused Meta of trying to deflect attention from its own challenges with child safety, stressing that Apple offers parental controls and that sharing age information with third-party apps would be a privacy violation.
In order for the bill to get a vote in the Louisiana Senate, approval from a key committee is necessary. Carver said he began hearing that the bill could be in trouble. Although Apple denied this, Carver said he was warned that the state could face a lawsuit if the bill included the App Store requirements.
In the end, the bill deleted the App Store clause and passed the Senate smoothly. It is reported that an Apple lobbyist thanked Carver for not trying to re-include the clause. At present, Apple lobbyists have not commented, and Senator Mizell said that other states have not pursued App Store regulation like Louisiana.
