The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has raised concerns about claims that Apple censors conservative content in the Apple News app.
In one letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said exhibitions from the Media Research Center, a right-leaning think tank, which accused Apple of excluding right-wing news 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 statements to consumers […] I abhor and condemn any attempt to censor content on ideological grounds,” Ferguson’s letter reads.
Ferguson, a critic of Big Tech whom Trump appointed to head the competition regulator, noted that the FTC has no authority to require Apple to take ideological or political positions when curating news, but said that if the company’s practices are “inconsistent” with its terms of service or “reasonable consumer expectations,” they may be violating the FTC Act.
Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (another Trump appointee critical of Big Tech); is supported Ferguson’s stance, writing: “Apple does not have the 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 curated on Apple News is consistent with its policies and “take swift corrective action” if curation is inconsistent.
The letter comes a day after President Donald Trump shared the Media Research Center’s 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 to curb fake news and disinformation that they had imposed in the years leading up to his second term in the White House.
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Apple’s relationship with the Trump administration has fluctuated between warm and cold over the past year. Trump has criticized Big Tech, especially Apple, for making its devices in China, but after Cook pledged to spend more than $600 billion over the next four years in the state and moved to restore barriers, relations between the government and the company have improved. Apple too avoided planned tariffs on smartphones manufactured abroad and imported into the US
The FTC also last year launched an investigation into “censorship by technology platforms,” seeking input from members of the public who felt silenced because of their political ideologies or affiliations. “Tech companies shouldn’t bully their users,” Ferguson said at the time. “This investigation will help the FTC better understand how these companies may have broken the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking up.”
Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.
