By Mallory Mattingly
Apple just got a new CEO, and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation wants him to take child safety seriously.
“Congratulations to John Ternus, who will take over as Apple’s CEO. We call on him to lead Apple to institute ‘safety by design’ principles in Apple products, and especially to prioritize updating the Apple App Store rating and review system that our research found puts children in harm’s way,” Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in a press release.
NCOSE has marked Apple’s App Store as one of the top contributors for sexual exploitation due to its “kid safe” label, putting it on its 2026 Dirty Dozen list. Unfortunately, the label leads many parents astray as some apps with this description can expose children to “hidden online dangers.”
Related: NCOSE Just Put Mark Zuckerberg on Its 2026 Dirty Dozen List
“Several deepfake-porn apps were able to slip into the Apple App Store by disguising themselves as harmless photo-editing tools,” an NCOSE researcher said.
Ternus will replace Tim Cook as Apple’s CEO.
“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said in a press release. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another.”
“I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in the years to come, and I am so happy to know that the most talented people on earth are here at Apple, determined to be part of something bigger than any one of us,” the new CEO continued. “I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century.”
Ternus becomes Apple’s eighth CEO. His accomplishments at the company include being a “key architect of the tech giant’s robust product pipeline, managing hardware engineering for iPad, AirPods and recent iPhone models. He has also played a significant role in Apple’s Silicon chip program as it transitions away from Intel,” according to CNBC.
He isn’t expected to take full control of the company until September.
Hopefully Ternus takes child safety seriously, starting by making sure the App Store correctly labels apps that could expose children to dangerous content.
Read Next: NCOSE’s 2024 Dirty Dozen List Adds Meta, Apple
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