by Caleb Larson at the Federalist
It’s not just Google that has negatively affected conservatives through its online services or abused its platforms to favor itself. Apple is another global tech behemoth that is exercising excessive and undue content moderation on its platform.
Without notice, Apple removed thousands of episodes of “The Glenn Beck Program” from Apple Podcasts on the morning of Aug. 16. Apple restored the popular show to its platform five hours later, blaming the removal on a trademark dispute. Host Glenn Beck said he received a notice from Apple about an issue with the show, but a link to more information contained therein simply informed him that Apple had removed his show.
This episode illustrates the harm that Apple’s monopoly is causing to a flourishing internet. From the excessive fees and gatekeeping of its App Store to its greed-fueled support of the totalitarian Chinese government, Apple has shown it is abusing its monopoly power, which runs counter to America’s best interests as well as a free and open internet.
When a consumer wants to download an app on his iPhone, there is only one shop in town — the Apple App Store. App developers must also play by Apple’s exploitative rules if they want to sell their services on the App Store. Once a developer earns $1 million in revenue, it must fork over 30 percent in fees. X CEO Elon Musk correctly labeled this fee a “30% tax on the Internet.”
Presumably, having exorbitant fees and complete control over access to the App Store…
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