The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has raised concerns over allegations that Apple is censoring conservative content on the Apple News app.
In letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, quoted by FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson reports from the Media Research Center, a right-wing think tank, which accused Apple of excluding right-wing websites from the 20 most popular articles in the Apple News feed.
“These reports raise serious questions about whether Apple News complies with its terms of service and statements to consumers … I hate and condemn any attempt to censor content for ideological reasons,” Ferguson's letter reads.
Ferguson, a Big Tech critic whom Trump has appointed to head the competition regulator, noted that the FTC has no authority to require Apple to take an ideological or political stance in news selection, but said that if the company's practices are “inconsistent” with its terms of service or “reasonable consumer expectations,” they may violate the FTC Act.
Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (another Trump nomination critical of Big Tech), maintained Ferguson's position, writing: “Apple has no right to suppress conservative views in violation of the FTC Act.”
Ferguson urged Apple to conduct a “comprehensive review” of its terms of service and ensure content provided on Apple News complies with company policies, and to “promptly take corrective action” if reviewing does not comply with the policies.
The letter comes a day after President Donald Trump took office common Media Research Center report on its social media platform Truth Social. Trump has repeatedly accused Big Tech companies of censoring right-wing content, although many major platforms have rolled back several measures aimed at curbing fake news and disinformation that they imposed in the years before his second term in the White House.
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Apple's relationship with the Trump administration has oscillated between warm and cold over the past year. Trump criticized Big Tech, especially Apple, for producing its devices in China, but after Cook pledged to spend more than $600 billion in the United States over the next four years and began mending fences, relations between the administration and the company improved. Apple too dodge planned tariffs on smartphones manufactured abroad and imported to the US
Last year, the FTC also launched an investigation into “censorship by tech platforms,” seeking input from the public who felt they had been silenced because of their ideology or political affiliation. “Technology companies should not abuse their users,” Ferguson said at the time. “This investigation will help the FTC better understand how these companies may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for expressing their opinions.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
