FTC Warns Apple Over Alleged Political Bias in Apple News

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned Apple that alleged political favoritism in its Apple News app could violate U.S. consumer protection law if it misleads users or contradicts the company’s own policies.

Apple News, which comes pre-installed on many iPhones and iPads, aggregates and curates stories from newspapers, magazines, and digital publications.

“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,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson wrote in a Feb. 11 letter to Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook.

“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.”

One such report was published on Feb. 4 by the Media Research Center (MRC), a conservative watchdog group. The MRC said that after reviewing Apple News’ top 20 featured stories each morning in January, none of the 620 articles came from right-leaning outlets.

The group said the app instead prominently featured left-leaning or center publications, including The Washington Post, The Associated Press, NBC News, The Guardian, The New York Times, NPR, Politico, USA Today, Bloomberg News, The Wall Street Journal, and Reuters.

The MRC also said that Apple News featured 440 stories in January from outlets it classified as left-leaning. It cited examples of headlines focused on President Donald Trump’s foreign and immigration policies, including an NBC News headline reading, “Unnerved by Trump, U.S. allies are making nice with China.”

The report also said Apple News editors selected multiple Washington Post headlines questioning Trump’s policies, including one that read: “Trump weighs imminent Iran strikes, but what’s the mission? The president has sent an ‘armada’ to threaten Iran, but the rationale for a possible military strike keeps changing.”

U.S. President Donald Trump shared the report in a Feb. 11 post on Truth Social, saying, “Apple News promotes left-leaning media outlets—as it shuts out conservative sites entirely.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Apple for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Apple states on its website that “experienced Apple News editors curate the day’s top stories from trusted sources, and advanced algorithms help you discover stories you’ll find interesting.”

Consumer Protection

Section 5 of the FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices. According to Ferguson’s letter, a representation is deceptive if it is material and likely to mislead reasonable consumers.

The statute also bars material omissions and practices that cause substantial injury not outweighed by benefits to consumers or competition.

Ferguson said that while the First Amendment protects corporate speech, it does not shield companies from liability for material misrepresentations or unfair practices.

“The First Amendment has never extended its protection to material misrepresentations made to consumers,” he wrote on Feb. 11, adding that companies are not immune from conduct deemed unfair under the FTC Act even when it involves speech.

Ferguson said that as “an American citizen,” he condemned attempts to censor content for ideological reasons.

“Such efforts, whether taken to appease overzealous activists, at the behest of foreign governments, or simply to advance the political views of Silicon Valley elites, stifle the free exchange of ideas, manipulate the public discourse, and are inconsistent with American values,” he wrote.

He also reiterated that the FTC’s focus was on consumer protection rather than speech regulation.

“The FTC is not the speech police,” Ferguson wrote. “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 said Congress has directed the agency to protect consumers from material misrepresentations and omissions, including in speech-related products.

As FTC chairman, Ferguson said he was writing to inform Apple of its obligations under federal law and encouraged the company to conduct “a comprehensive review” of its terms of service and ensure that Apple News’ curation practices are consistent with its representations to users.