Legally Creative, Democratically Dangerous: President Trump’s Plan to Twist the News

The Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission were designed to be independent stewards of the public interest — guardians against monopolies, fraud and the misuse of public airwaves. The Trump administration has ruined that independence. President Trump’s appointees have weaponized the agencies and transformed them into instruments of ideological enforcement. The changes not only threaten their core responsibility to ensure a fair business playing field but also directly undermine the First Amendment. The latest evidence is a quiet but radical distortion of consumer protection law by the FTC. The agency recently sent a warning letter to Apple, alleging potential bias in how Apple News curates articles. The letter cited a study by Media Research Center, a conservative group, suggesting that Apple was treating conservative sources unfairly. Separately, the commission is investigating Media Matters, a liberal group, for its work arguing that the social platform X has allowed hate speech to spread. Together, the two cases betray the agency’s politicization. A conservative media watchdog criticized Apple, and the FTC used that work to justify a warning letter to the company. A liberal media watchdog criticized X, and the FTC responded by investigating the watchdog.