Washington, D.C. – Apple did not allow Jon Stewart to interview Chair Lina Khan or discuss other sensitive topics when his show was part of Apple TV+’s ecosystem, Stewart revealed during an interview with Khan last night. In response, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“Anyone who still believes Apple’s power begins and ends with smartphones should watch last night’s stunning revelation,” said Nidhi Hegde, Interim Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “After leveraging its anticompetitive playbook to dominate key pillars of the tech industry, Apple further exerts its power to control content it doesn’t approve of—a concern specifically highlighted in the DOJ’s antitrust complaint. A tech company with enough gatekeeper power to control one of America’s biggest talk show hosts doesn’t just threaten our economy, but our democracy too. As Apple continues to expand into finance, automobiles, and more, there’s no reason to believe this is the first time this happened or it will be the last, underscoring the urgency of the Antitrust Division’s suit to rein them in.”

As the Department of Justice’s complaint against Apple states, “Apple’s conduct extends beyond just monopoly profits and even affects the flow of speech. For example, Apple is rapidly expanding its role as a TV and movie producer and has exercised that role to control content.”

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.