The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has raised concerns over allegations that Apple is censoring conservative content on the Apple News app.
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, FTC chair Andrew Ferguson cited reports from Media Research Center, a right-leaning think tank, which accused Apple of excluding right-leaning outlets from the top 20 articles in the Apple News feed.
“These reports raise serious questions about whether Apple News is acting in accordance with its terms of service and its representations to consumers […] I abhor and condemn any attempt to censor content for ideological reasons,” Ferguson’s letter reads.
Ferguson, a Big Tech critic who Trump appointed to lead the competition regulator, noted the FTC doesn’t have any powers to require Apple to take ideological or political positions when curating news, but he said that if the company’s practices are “inconsistent” its terms of service or “reasonable expectations of consumers,” they may be in violation of the FTC Act.
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (another Trump appointee critical of Big Tech), supported Ferguson’s stance, writing, “Apple has no right to suppress conservative viewpoints in violation of the FTC Act.”
Ferguson has urged Apple to conduct a “comprehensive review” of its terms of service and ensure that the content curated on Apple News is consistent with its policies, and “take corrective action swiftly” if the curation isn’t in line.
The letter comes a day after President Donald Trump shared the report by Media Research Center on his social media platform, Truth Social. Trump has repeatedly accused Big Tech companies of censoring right-leaning content, though many major platforms have rolled back several measures to curb fake news and disinformation they had imposed in the years prior to his second stint at 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 has criticized Big Tech, especially Apple, for manufacturing its devices in China, but after Cook promised to spend more than $600 billion over the next four years Stateside and moved to mend fences, relations between the Administration and the company have improved. Apple also dodged planned tariffs on smartphones made overseas and imported into the U.S.
The FTC last year also launched an investigation into “censorship by tech platforms,” seeking input from the public who felt they were silenced due to their political ideologies or affiliations. “Tech firms should not be bullying their users,” Ferguson said at the time. “This inquiry will help the FTC better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”
Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.
Source: techcrunch.com
