Politics: US trade watchdog sends stern letter regarding Apple News
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson believes Apple disadvantages conservative media with its algorithm. The consequences are still unclear.
Icon of Apple News: Trouble with the FTC.
(Image: Apple)
Apple is not getting any respite this week: Following reports that the smarter Siri will be delayed again, a stern letter from the US trade watchdog Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has now been added. According to a report by the Financial Times, the regulator's chief, appointed by US President Donald Trump, Andrew N. Ferguson, criticizes the company's news platform, Apple News, in it.
The app, for which there is still no German version, must not “suppress or promote” any news articles or news sources “based on their ideological or political views,” Ferguson stated. Should Apple do so, it could violate US laws designed to protect the public from companies that mislead customers, the FTC boss wrote.
Trump shared Apple criticism on Truth Social
He urged Apple to conduct a “comprehensive review” of its terms and conditions and to correct them if Apple News' content curation shows errors. While Ferguson remained comparatively factual in his letter, the head of the US media and communications regulator FCC, Brendan Carr, expressed himself more clearly: Apple has “no right to suppress conservative viewpoints.” This contradicts the FTC Act.
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Previously, a conservative think tank, the so-called Media Research Center (MRC), had claimed that Apple promotes “left-wing media” in its news feed. Trump had shared the report on his profile on his social media service, Truth Social, as did his press secretary. MRC claims that of the 620 top stories in January, “not a single one” was from conservative and right-wing media such as Fox News, Daily Mail, or Breitbart. Ferguson wrote that this contradicts the expectations of millions of Americans who use Apple News. However, the FTC is “also not the speech police.”
Trouble over Super Bowl?
Apple CEO Tim Cook had appeared in a selfie with artist Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl, who had sharply criticized the Trump administration and especially the actions of the border police agency ICE against migrants. Trump called the appearance an “affront to American greatness.”
Cook had recently received a lot of criticism from within his own company because he had long not clearly positioned himself against the actions of the US government. In Minneapolis, ICE had shot two people.
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