Apple is under intensifying scrutiny in the United States after a media watchdog accused the company of systematically excluding right-leaning news outlets from its Apple News platform, raising fresh questions about political bias, algorithmic decision-making, and corporate accountability.

The allegations were detailed in a new report by the Media Research Centre (MRC), a US-based organization that tracks perceived bias in news and digital platforms. According to the group, Apple News failed to feature a single article from a right-leaning outlet during the month of January.

MRC researchers analyzed 620 news stories promoted by Apple News during high-traffic morning time slots between January 1 and January 31. Of those, 440 stories were published by outlets rated as left-leaning and highly critical of former President Donald Trump and his policies. The remaining 180 stories came from centrist outlets.

The report found zero stories from outlets classified as right-leaning, including publications owned by News Corp, as well as Fox News and the New York Post, despite their large audiences and commercial profitability.

The MRC said its analysis relied on media bias ratings compiled by AllSides, a nonpartisan organization that uses a multi-partisan panel made up of left-, centre- and right-leaning analysts trained to assess media bias.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has not publicly addressed whether Apple News management uses artificial intelligence or algorithmic systems that could favor certain political viewpoints, nor whether such practices comply with the company’s internal policies and public commitments around fairness and ethical conduct.

Apple does not publish a single standalone mission statement explicitly guaranteeing political balance in its news curation. However, the company frequently highlights values such as inclusion, human rights, privacy and ethical business practices across its corporate policies.

Among the outlets most prominently featured on Apple News during the period analyzed were The Washington Post and The Guardian, both of which have reported financial and structural challenges in recent years. The Guardian has disclosed significant annual losses, including a reported A$97.1 million pre-tax loss in one recent financial period.

The allegations come at a sensitive time for Apple, as US regulators and lawmakers intensify their focus on political bias and content moderation practices within major technology companies.

Since Donald Trump’s return to the presidency last year, several Trump-appointed regulators have signaled a tougher stance on what they describe as censorship and viewpoint discrimination by Big Tech firms.

In February 2024, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson launched an inquiry into tech censorship, stating the agency sought to “better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”

The FTC has also recently approved a major merger between advertising giants Omnicom and Interpublic, imposing conditions that prohibit politically motivated advertising boycotts — a move widely seen as a warning shot to both media and technology companies.

Apple has not responded publicly to the Media Research Centres’s findings.