FTC Warns Apple of Potential Federal Law Violation Regarding Apple News
By Kelly Cloonan
The Federal Trade Commission issued a letter to Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook, warning that the company's Apple News product may violate federal law.
The letter from FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson cited reports--including one from the Media Research Center, a nonprofit critical of national news organizations--that Apple News promoted news articles from left-wing news outlets and suppressed news articles from more conservative 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," the letter said.
While the FTC doesn't have the authority to require Apple to take a position on any political issue, or curate news offerings consistent with any specific ideology, it can take action to protect consumers from material misrepresentations and omissions, Ferguson said.
Any move by Apple News to suppress or promote news articles based on ideological or political viewpoints may violate the FTC Act if it is found to be inconsistent with Apple's terms of service or the reasonable expectations of consumers, the letter said.
"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 said in the letter to Cook.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Write to Kelly Cloonan at kelly.cloonan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 12, 2026 11:57 ET (16:57 GMT)
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