Apple lobbying intensely against bill limiting its ability to prefer own services

US Capitol. Credit: Alejandro Barba

Apple, and big tech as a while, are lobbying fiercely against a Senate bill that would prevent companies from giving special treatment to its own services like Apple Music, and others, across its own digital storefronts.

The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, actively in US Senate deliberations, was criticized by Apple for harming Americans' security and privacy.

Apple and the rest of big tech are now lobbying hard against the bill, according to a report by CNBC.

The report noted that leaders of the tech industry were waiting on revisions to the original bill before kickstarting their efforts against the bill. The original version of the Act debuted in June 2021, with the new version that is currently being deliberated emerging in May 2022.

Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of the consumer advocacy group Accountable Tech, stated that Apple's persuasion against the bill seems to be most effective out of all the big tech companies actively involved against the piece of legislation.

"When Facebook or Amazon make baseless sky-is-falling attacks, there's little to say besides, that's just patently false," Lehrich said. "When Apple makes esoteric arguments about serious security risks of sideloading, you need compelling substantive pushback to allay lawmakers' concerns."

It's not clear when or if the bill will pass.

In October 2021, another bill emerged entitled the Open Markets Act sought to limit tech companies' use of their storefronts in a similar manner to the American Innovation and Choice Online Act. In May 2022, Apple released a statement decrying that the two bills will do harm to users' privacy and security.