A study from the conservative Media Research Center (MRC) asserts that Apple News and Google News exhibit significant bias against Republican presidential endorsements. The MRC's analysis, which examined news outlets prominently featured on these platforms across multiple election cycles dating back to 1988, claims that none of the featured publications endorsed a Republican candidate for president. Over the course of 10 presidential elections, these aggregators allegedly promoted outlets that endorsed Democrats 31 times, while Republicans received zero endorsements from the same sources.
Microsoft's MSN news aggregator also showed a skew, with its top five news organizations reportedly favoring Democratic candidates 25-2 in their endorsements. The MRC contends that this imbalance in endorsements reflects a broader, more pervasive bias in the news sources utilized by these platforms, which are relied upon by millions of Americans for daily news.
This alleged bias extends beyond presidential endorsements, potentially shaping public perception of various issues and the broader political landscape. Previous studies, including those by the MRC and the nonpartisan bias rater AllSides, have indicated a general left-leaning tendency in online news aggregators. AllSides reported in April that only 1% of Google News articles and 2% of Apple News offerings came from right-leaning outlets. In 2023, AllSides had also characterized Apple News as leaning left.
According to MRC's Dan Schneider, a significant portion of the voting-age population in the U.S. uses Apple iPhones, which come with Apple News pre-installed, potentially exposing users to a curated stream of news narratives. The MRC suggests that such curated content can influence public opinion and points to past instances, such as the dismissal of the Hunter Biden laptop story and the promotion of the "Russian Collusion" hoax, as examples of how media narratives can shape public discourse.
In response to concerns about platform bias, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson reportedly urged Apple in February to conduct a comprehensive review of its terms of service. The call was to ensure that Apple News' article curation aligns with its stated terms and consumer representations, and to implement corrective actions if discrepancies are found. With upcoming midterm elections, the MRC is watching to see if these tech platforms will demonstrate a move towards content balance. If not, the study suggests that legislative or regulatory action from Congress and the FTC may be considered.