Considering the Federal Trade Commission’s Double Standard on Media Bias
It’s an interesting time to be an organization that conducts media bias research in the United States. Depending on the results of your research, you may find the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) using it to justify an inquiry directed at another company; or you may find yourself the target of an FTC investigation.
The first scenario is reflected in events earlier this month, when FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook. In his letter, Ferguson noted that recent research from self-described conservative media watchdog organization the Media Research Center indicated that Apple News, the company’s news aggregation app, “systematically promoted news articles from left-wing news outlets and suppressed news articles from more conservative publications.”
According to Ferguson, such patterns may put Apple in violation of the FTC Act — if such patterns are inconsistent with Apple’s terms and conditions; are contrary to consumers’ expectations that failure to disclose such ideological favoritism is a “material omission”; or if such practices cause “substantial injury that is neither reasonably avoidable nor outweighed by the countervailing benefits to consumers or competition.” The bottom line, Ferguson contends, is that this pattern in Apple News’ curation may constitute unfair or deceptive practices, and therefore could warrant an FTC investigation.
Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press
Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.
Democracy and politics | Signalgate | The CBS submission | Voiceless America
Related Knowledge Center: Free speech and public protest
The First Amendment is facing challenging times: Crackdowns on campus protests prompted both-sides claims of intolerance. Attempts to head off dangerous health misinformation have been characterized as violations of free speech. Donald Trump is publicly punishing news outlets that deviate from his administration’s version of events while privately suing some outlets into submission.
The White House vs. the press | Voiceless America