The software, if used, would scan Apple iCloud accounts for child sexual abuse, then notify Apple and law enforcement if material is found.
Determined to publicize Apple’s controversial stance, the American Family Association has proposed a resolution for the next Apple shareholder meeting, which is in early 2025.
The proposed resolution asks Apple Corporation to conduct a risk assessment – the resolution calls it a “transparency report” – if the company refuses to implement the scanning software, Walker Wildmon, AFA vice president, tells AFN.
A similar proposal for Apple to take action was made in 2020 and again in 2021.
“After concern from privacy groups,” Wildmon explains, “Apple withdrew the plan to expand what's known as the CSAM scanning feature for iCloud accounts."
AFA is partnering with Jerry Bowyer, of Bowyer Research, in the ministry’s new plan to publicly confront corporate executives at their annual shareholders’ meetings.
According to Bowyer, AFA recognizes there is a legitimate issue with privacy concerns versus explicit and illegal content. So the language of the resolution, he says, is a “balanced approach” that asks Apple to explain if and how it weighed those concerns before reaching its decision.
When the proposed resolution was filed, Apple executives quickly reached out to AFA and Bowyer to request a meeting. That quick reaction surprised Bowyer until he learned Apple lobbyists had stopped a similar child protection provision in the Louisiana legislature.
Using a shareholders’ meeting to push for change is a new role for AFA, which dates back to the 1970s under founder Rev. Don Wildmon. At the time, when TV shows and films were becoming more lewd and profane, the Methodist minister attempted to shame Hollywood executives for their products.
He is perhaps most famous for convincing 7-Eleven to remove pornographic magazines from its 7,000-plus stores.
"In the 1980s, my grandfather took on Hollywood and big media with their trash television,” Walker Wildmon says. “In 2024, we're taking on Big Tech, and we're taking on companies like Apple, because children are being harmed.”
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
