The FTC under President Donald Trump recently sent an angry letter to Apple‘s headquarters after finding fault with Apple News’s feed. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson reminded Apple CEO Tim Cook to adhere to his obligations to consumers.
The letter claimed that Apple frequently gives the spotlight to left-leaning news sources and sweeps right-wing voices under the rug.
“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,” Ferguson wrote in the letter.
Ferguson accused Apple of violating the FTC Act, which prohibits “unfair methods of competition.”
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson issues warning letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook: https://t.co/wlAnFG3Gpi
— FTC (@FTC) February 12, 2026
“Big Tech companies that suppress or promote news articles in their news aggregators or feeds based on the perceived ideological or political viewpoint of the article or publication may violate the FTC Act if that suppression or promotion (1) is inconsistent with the terms and conditions of service; (2) is contrary to consumers’ reasonable expectations such that failure to disclose the ideological favoritism is a material omission; or (3) when those practices cause substantial injury that is neither reasonably avoidable nor outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or competition,” the letter stated.
The Trump appointee’s move followed a report prepared by the Media Research Center.
The group is known for being a conservative media watchdog. The report claimed that Apple News only pushed left-aligned news outlets like The Associated Press, NBC News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
At the same time, the letter states that right-leaning sources like Fox News, the New York Post, the Daily Wire, and Breitbart News are left in the shadows.
Apple News is the latest media property to be warned by a Trump-appointed regulator over charges of liberal bias. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said he’s “not the speech police” but warned Apple that its choice of articles could violate the law. https://t.co/RhbuuMnhNh
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) February 13, 2026
The group found that almost no stories produced by right-aligned media sources made it to the feed in January 2026.
Apple News, considered the most popular news app in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, and the second most popular in the UK, offers users access to thousands of stories. The ranking of the articles is determined by how users are interacting with them.
According to its terms and conditions, the news platform doesn’t display articles that are “factually inaccurate” and don’t follow “widely accepted journalistic standards.” Experts are slamming the FTC’s move saying it has no legal authority to dictate how a news platform should operate.
Ferguson also acknowledged his own limitations in the letter. He stated that he is obliged to follow Congress’s decision to protect consumers from “material misrepresentations.”
“The FTC is not the speech police. But Congress has mandated that we protect consumers from material misrepresentations and omissions, including when the product or service offered to consumers is a speech-related product,” he added.
