Apple is calling out Rep. Kat Cammack’s (R-FL) bill, the App Store Freedom Act, for “undermining kids’ online safety.”
Cammack’s bill, introduced in May, aims to require large app store operators to allow users to set third-party apps or app stores as their default, among other things.
“We must continue to hold Big Tech accountable and promote competition that allows all players to enter the field,” Cammack said in a statement accompanying the bill.
“Dominant app stores have controlled customer data and forced consumers to use the marketplaces’ own merchant services, instead of the native, in-app offerings provided by the applications and developers themselves. The results are higher prices and limited selections for consumers and anti-competitive practices for developers that have stifled innovation,” she added.
Apple opposes the bill, which it says kills competition and endangers children’s online safety.
“Apple is deeply committed to kids’ online safety, which is why we support efforts to pass meaningful child safety legislation in Congress and continue to create powerful tools to help parents protect their children online,” an Apple spokesperson told the Washington Examiner.
“The App Store Freedom Act would have the opposite impact, undermining kids’ online safety while also stifling competition and eroding privacy and security protections for consumers. Apple will continue to prioritize kids’ safety online, as well as advocate to protect American innovation and the best interests of users and developers who rely upon the App Store,” they said.
The company believes the bill is a “copycat” of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, which aims to make it easier for smaller companies to compete in the digital market. It’s been criticized for stifling innovation.
Chamber of Progress, a center-left tech industry policy coalition, also disagrees with Cammack’s legislation. The group said the bill “opens the door to bad actors.”
“It removes the safety features that make app store ecosystems safer and more accountable and opens the door to bad actors. The results are the opposite of what the authors intended to create for children and all other users,” they wrote in a blog post.
Apple has been accused of monopolizing the app market through its App Store, as the Justice Department, along with more than a dozen state attorneys general, sued the company last year over these allegations.
“Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws,” then-Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “We allege that Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market, not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law. If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.
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Unlike Apple, digital music service Spotify endorsed Cammack’s legislation.
“The App Store Freedom Act could be a game-changer for American consumers by giving them more choice and control over their devices than ever before. We applaud Representative Kat Cammack for introducing common-sense rules of the road to permanently open up the app economy, unlock new opportunities for businesses and creators, and encourage even stronger tech innovation in the United States,” Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s chief public affairs officer, said.
