100 signatures reached
To: Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
Petition: Stop Apple giving kids access to chat-with-strangers apps
A new report has just exposed that Apple lets kids download risky adult apps -- including for casual sex and chatting with strangers -- from their app store. This gives predators a direct line to kids! Even when a kid’s Apple ID shows they are underage, they can still easily access apps that connect them with random strangers and encourage sending nude pictures. The time for abdication of responsibility and unaccountable tech practices that hurt our children is over. Apple must take immediate measures to stop children from accessing adult-only apps.
Why is this important?
Personal stories underscore the danger posed to kids by such apps. After confiscating her 14-year-old daughter’s phone, one mom was shocked to find a flood of sexually explicit photos from older men delivered via stranger-chat app Yubo, many pressuring her to reciprocate. Reviews on the App Store detail how many of these apps are filled with people asking for sexually explicit images.
At a minimum, Apple must:
- Block anyone whose Apple ID shows they are underage from adult-only apps
- Require that adult apps institute substantive age verification processes and close loopholes that allow them to ignore evidence that a user is underage.
- Enforce Apple’s own guidelines and remove chat roulette apps from the App Store