Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook parent company Meta, was among a group of executives that were on a hot seat as they appeared before the US Senate for a congressional online safety hearing. Zuckerberg was of the view that not businesses like his but app store providers, like Apple and Google, should be responsible for managing parental consent systems for kids’ use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
What Zuckerberg said at the hearing
Citing Meta’s own research, Zuckerberg said that parents wanted more control over apps via smartphones and the app stores that families use.
“I don’t think parents should have to upload an ID to prove that they’re the parent of a child in every single app that their children use,” he said.
He specifically targeted Apple over a payments feature that requires parents’ approval for kids to make payments with an app.
“And a place where it’d be actually very easy for it to work is within the app stores themselves — where my understanding is Apple and Google already — or at least Apple already — requires parental consent when a child does a payment with an app,” Zuckerberg noted.
In layman’s terms, Zuckerberg noted that if Apple can be the payment processor for all iOS apps, then it can also provide parental consent over app usage.
“So it should be pretty trivial to pass a law that requires them to make it so parents have control anytime a child downloads an app and offers consent to that. I think that’s the type of legislation, in addition to some of the other ideas that you all have, that would make this a lot easier for parents,” Zuckerberg said.
This is not the first time that the social media giant has floated this idea. In November last year, the company wrote in a blog post that companies with app stores (Apple and Google) should be held responsible for age verification.
Meta said that the technology space is evolving with every US state passing different laws, and that teens move interchangeably between many websites and apps, resulting in teens being inconsistently protected. The company argued that if parents give consent to use certain apps and verify the age of their kids when setting up their phone, it will negate the need for everyone to verify their age multiple times across multiple apps.
“This way parents can oversee and approve their teen’s online activity in one place. They can ensure their teens are not accessing adult content or apps, or apps they just don’t want their teens to use. And where apps like ours offer age-appropriate features and settings, parents can help ensure their teens use them,” Meta had said.
What Zuckerberg said at the hearing
Citing Meta’s own research, Zuckerberg said that parents wanted more control over apps via smartphones and the app stores that families use.
“I don’t think parents should have to upload an ID to prove that they’re the parent of a child in every single app that their children use,” he said.
He specifically targeted Apple over a payments feature that requires parents’ approval for kids to make payments with an app.
“And a place where it’d be actually very easy for it to work is within the app stores themselves — where my understanding is Apple and Google already — or at least Apple already — requires parental consent when a child does a payment with an app,” Zuckerberg noted.
In layman’s terms, Zuckerberg noted that if Apple can be the payment processor for all iOS apps, then it can also provide parental consent over app usage.
“So it should be pretty trivial to pass a law that requires them to make it so parents have control anytime a child downloads an app and offers consent to that. I think that’s the type of legislation, in addition to some of the other ideas that you all have, that would make this a lot easier for parents,” Zuckerberg said.
This is not the first time that the social media giant has floated this idea. In November last year, the company wrote in a blog post that companies with app stores (Apple and Google) should be held responsible for age verification.
Meta said that the technology space is evolving with every US state passing different laws, and that teens move interchangeably between many websites and apps, resulting in teens being inconsistently protected. The company argued that if parents give consent to use certain apps and verify the age of their kids when setting up their phone, it will negate the need for everyone to verify their age multiple times across multiple apps.
“This way parents can oversee and approve their teen’s online activity in one place. They can ensure their teens are not accessing adult content or apps, or apps they just don’t want their teens to use. And where apps like ours offer age-appropriate features and settings, parents can help ensure their teens use them,” Meta had said.