Federal Trade Commission chair Andrew Ferguson on Wednesday sent a letter to Apple chief Tim Cook, suggesting that Apple News has been tipping the scales in favor of “left-wing news outlets” while suppressing conservative publications.
The Republican lawyer and Trump appointee, who’s led the FTC since the 2024 election, characterized the favoritism as a violation of Apple News’ terms of service.
“Recently, there have been reports that Apple News has systematically promoted news articles from left-wing news outlets and suppressed news articles from more conservative publications,” Ferguson wrote. “Indeed, multiple studies have found that in recent months Apple News has chosen not to feature a single article from an American conservative-leaning news source, while simultaneously promoting hundreds of articles from liberal publications. 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.”
Ferguson did not give specific examples or name the report he was citing. Representatives for Apple and Cook did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
While Ferguson noted that the agency “brings law-enforcement actions … about compliance with the laws the FTC enforces” and noted that Section 5 of the FTC Act prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” he also noted that tech firms are protected by the First Amendment.
“The FTC is not the speech police; we do not have authority to require Apple or any other firm to take affirmative positions on any political issue, nor to curate news offerings consistent with one ideology or another,” he concluded. “But Congress has mandated that we protect consumers from material misrepresentations and omissions, including when the product or service offered to consumers is a speech-related product.”
He suggested that since Apple’s terms of service do not disclose a political bias in its Apple News feeds, the company may be in violation.
“I encourage you to conduct a comprehensive review of Apple’s terms of service and ensure that Apple News’ curation of articles is consistent with those terms and representations made to consumers and, if it is not, to take corrective action swiftly,” Ferguson concludes.
