The chairman of the Federal Trade Commission has written to Apple chief Tim Cook to complain that the company “suppressed” content from conservative news outlets in the Apple News feed that it loads onto many of its devices.
Chairman Andrew Ferguson said that while the FTC is not the “speech police,” it does have the authority to protect consumers from material misrepresentations and omissions. He urged Cook to review what is used on the Apple News feed and take corrective action.
There was no immediate reply by Apple on Thursday to a request for comment.
Ferguson was responding to a report by the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog. The report said that none of 620 top stories featured in the curated news app during January came from a conservative media source.
Instead, a majority of its stories came from “leftist” outlets like The Associated Press, NBC News, The New York Times and The Washington Post, the report said. The MRC said right-leaning news sources that were missing include Fox News, the New York Post, the Daily Wire and Breitbart News.
Cook proved not immune to criticism from President Donald Trump’s administration despite his attendance at Trump’s second term inauguration last year.