Apple News ‘Zero’ Conservative Articles Spark Senate Leader’s Censorship Vow
By Nicole Weatherholtz | Tuesday, 24 February 2026 10:47 AM EST
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said on Tuesday that Apple News is sidelining conservative voices and vowed the censorship “has got to stop.”
Blackburn cited a letter she sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook following data showing a stark imbalance in Apple News’ featured content, where 400 articles were published without any from right-leaning, center-right, or conservative groups.
“So, saying, ‘Hey, Tim Cook, in January, 400 articles that went up — zero from right-leaning, center-right, or conservative groups,'” Blackburn said. “Zero — 400 to 0. There is something wrong with this.”
Blackburn stressed that Apple News comes preloaded on iPhones used by approximately 150 million Americans, giving the tech giant enormous influence over what news consumers see first.
“And what we have seen with Apple News … is they are biased against conservatives, and the censorship against conservatives has got to stop,” she stated.
Blackburn referenced findings from the Media Research Center and AllSides that she claimed indicate a consistent left-leaning tilt in story selection.
She emphasized Americans deserve transparency about how stories are chosen and amplified — especially when artificial intelligence tools are involved. “How are they programming those LLMs [artificial intelligence large language models]? What is their criteria?” Blackburn asked. “How do they make the decision process of what to push forward and what to suppress?”
The Tennessee Republican said those questions must be answered by Apple, particularly as concerns grow over AI-driven content curation.
Blackburn also noted she expects President Trump to address what she described as Big Tech censorship in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
She added that she has “written, taken the first stab at the discussion draft on the Trump America AI act,” legislation aimed at setting guardrails for artificial intelligence.
Blackburn said she was “pleased that the president tasked me with taking that lead and making certain that we abide by the four Cs.”
Those “four Cs,” she explained, are “children, creators, communities from job loss and high electric rates, and censorship.”
Framing the issue as part of a broader battle over free speech, Blackburn said conservatives have long faced unfair treatment from dominant tech platforms.
