The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission warned Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, this week that he was potentially violating consumer protection law by stifling conservative viewpoints, the latest in the Trump administration’s battle with tech platforms over speech.
The F.T.C. said that its chairman, Andrew Ferguson, sent a letter to Mr. Cook pointing to a study that said Apple’s news aggregation service, Apple News, had been censoring conservative news sources in favor of left-leaning media outlets. The study was by Media Research Center, a media watchdog and nonprofit founded in 1987 by L. Brent Bozell III, a conservative media critic.
Mr. Ferguson said in the letter that the “F.T.C. is not the speech police” but that consumers expected Apple News to offer neutral coverage. If conservative voices are being censored, he said, the company has not lived up to its promises to its customers.
“These reports raise serious questions about whether Apple News is acting in accordance with its terms of service and its representations to consumers, as well as the reasonable consumer expectations of the tens of millions of Americans who use Apple News,” Mr. Ferguson wrote.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Ferguson and other Trump-appointed leaders of federal agencies have expanded their powers by using consumer protection and other laws to punish media and tech companies for perceived left-leaning bias and for content critical of President Trump.
In January, Mr. Ferguson opened an investigation into social media’s censorship of political speech from conservatives. The agency also approved a merger in June of two advertising companies on the unusual condition that they abstain from politically motivated advertising boycotts.
In September, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened to pull broadcast licenses of local television stations for airing the comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show after Mr. Kimmel made remarks about the killer of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Mr. Carr said Mr. Kimmel’s speech was biased against conservatives and did not serve the public interest.
Cecilia Kang reports on technology and regulatory policy for The Times from Washington. She has written about technology for over two decades.
The post F.T.C. Chair Warns Apple Against Bias in Apple News appeared first on New York Times.
