The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has expressed concern over allegations that Apple is censoring conservative content in the Apple News app.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson accused Apple of excluding right-wing news organizations from the top 20 stories in the Apple News Feed, citing a report by the Media Research Center, a right-wing think tank.
“These reports raise serious questions about whether Apple News is acting in accordance with its terms of service and representations to consumers.” […] “I hate and condemn any attempt to censor content for ideological reasons,” Ferguson’s letter said.
Ferguson, a Big Tech critic whom President Trump appointed to lead the competition regulator, noted that the FTC does not have the authority to require Apple to take ideological or political positions when editing news, but said the company’s practices could violate FTC law if they are “inconsistent” with the company’s terms of service or “reasonable expectations of consumers.”
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, another Trump appointee critical of Big Tech, supported Ferguson’s position, writing that “Apple has no right to suppress conservative views in violation of FTC law.”
Ferguson called on Apple to conduct a “comprehensive review” of its terms of service, ensure content curated on Apple News is consistent with the company’s policies, and “take prompt corrective action” if curation is inconsistent.
The letter came a day after President Donald Trump shared the Media Research Center’s report on his social media platform, Truth Social. President Trump has repeatedly accused Big Tech companies of censoring right-wing content, but many major platforms have reversed some measures to curb fake news and disinformation that they had imposed in the years before his second term in the White House.
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The relationship between Apple and the Trump administration has oscillated between warm and cold over the past year. President Trump has criticized Big Tech companies, particularly Apple, for manufacturing equipment in China, but relations between the administration and the company have improved since Cook moved to mend fences by pledging to spend more than $600 billion in the United States over the next four years. Apple also avoided planned tariffs on smartphones manufactured overseas and imported into the United States.
Last year, the FTC launched an investigation into “censorship by technology platforms,” seeking input from people who feel silenced because of their political ideology or affiliation. “Technology companies shouldn’t bully users,” Ferguson said at the time. “This investigation will help the FTC better understand how these companies violated the law by silencing Americans and intimidating them from speaking their mind.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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