FTC chair warns Apple News it could violate consumer protection laws with alleged left-wing bias

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson notified Apple in a letter Wednesday that the company could be violating consumer protection laws by allegedly stifling conservative publications on its news app.

The letter comes after a Media Research Center study found that 440 out of 620 stories that were featured on Apple News during high-traffic morning time slots between Jan. 1 and 31 were from left-leaning outlets, according to the New York Post. 

“These reports raise serious questions about whether Apple News is acting in accordance with its terms of service and its representations to consumers,” Ferguson wrote in the letter. 

He also urged Apple CEO Tim Cook 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 noted that Apple is required to comply with Section 5 of the FTC Act, which “prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” including “material misrepresentations and material omissions.”

“The First Amendment protects the speech of Big Tech firms,” Ferguson wrote. “But the First Amendment has never extended its protection to material misrepresentations made to consumers, nor does it immunize speakers from conduct that Congress has deemed unfair under the FTC Act, even if that conduct involves speech.”

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.