A recent report from the Information claims that tech giant Facebook plans to take on rival Apple in an antitrust lawsuit related to its iOS 14 privacy features. A lawsuit would be a dramatic escalation to the war of words between the Masters of the Universe over user privacy.
A recent report from the Information alleges that Facebook is planning to take fellow tech giant Apple to court over allegations of antitrust relating to Apple’s iOS 14 privacy features. Facebook has reportedly been working with outside legal counsel to prepare an antitrust lawsuit against Apple that claims the iPhone manufacturer “abused its power in the smartphone market by forcing app developers to abide by App Store rules that Apple’s own apps don’t have to follow.”
The report explains that Facebook’s lawsuit is likely to focus on the changes Apple introduced in iOS 14 which include the App Tracking Transparency feature, which will launch within the next few months and require users to permit apps to track their data.
The Information writes:
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is attempting to build a broad legal case arguing that Apple’s rules for app developers—which force them to use Apple’s in-app payment service, for instance—make it harder to compete against Apple in areas such as gaming, messaging and shopping
Facebook’s own lawsuit, if it materializes, is expected to focus in part on the most recent major update Apple made to its mobile operating system, iOS 14, which it rolled out in September, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The report from The Information does, however, state that Facebook may not end up filing the lawsuit against Apple, and that Facebook executives are actually facing “internal resistance” from employees over the issue. The report states:
Internally, however, Facebook employees have expressed skepticism over waging a high-profile battle against Apple, according to four people familiar with the matter. Some employees are concerned that Facebook is not a compelling victim, given the company’s own legal issues and past mishandling of user data.
Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook criticized polarization and misinformation on social media further intensifying conflict between Apple and Facebook. Delivering his remarks at the Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection conference, Cook criticized apps that he believes collect too much personal data and prioritize “conspiracy theories and violent incitement simply because of their high rates of engagement.”
Cook stated: “It is long past time to stop pretending that this approach doesn’t come with a cost — of polarization, of lost trust and, yes, of violence. A social dilemma cannot be allowed to become a social catastrophe.”
In response to Cook, Facebook said in a statement that it believes “Apple is behaving anti-competitively by using their control of the App Store to benefit their bottom line at the expense of app developers and small businesses.”
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com