FTC chair Andrew Ferguson tells Apple CEO Tim Cook to review Apple News content

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Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson has written to Apple CEO Tim Cook complaining that Apple “suppressed” content from conservative news outlets in the Apple News feed that appears on many of the company’s devices, according to a report citing the letter. Ferguson said he was raising the issue as a consumer-protection matter rather than an attempt to police viewpoints, according to the report.

Ferguson said the FTC is not the “speech police,” but he argued the agency can act when companies make material misrepresentations or omit important information, the report said. In the letter, he urged Cook to examine what content Apple News uses and to take corrective action, the report said.

The report said Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. It also said Ferguson’s letter was prompted by a report from the Media Research Center, a conservative media watchdog.

The Media Research Center’s report said that none of 620 top stories featured in the Apple News app’s curated feed during January came from a conservative media source. The report said most of the stories instead came from outlets the watchdog described as “leftist,” including The Associated Press, NBC News, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

The Media Research Center also said several right-leaning sources were missing from the January selection, including Fox News, The New York Post, the Daily Wire and Breitbart News, the report said. The AP report did not say what methodology the watchdog used for its tally or how Apple selects stories for the app.

The letter arrived as Ferguson, according to the report, continues to draw attention to the issue of what consumers see through major technology platforms. The report also noted that Cook has faced criticism from President Donald Trump’s administration despite his attendance at Trump’s second term inauguration last year.

While Ferguson’s letter emphasized the FTC’s role in consumer protection, the dispute reflects a broader political fight over whether the curation of news in app-based feeds amounts to omitted information or a permissible editorial choice.