Apple is facing a reckoning on Capitol Hill.
One Republican lawmaker drew a line in the sand against Big Tech monopolies.
And Apple just hid behind one shocking excuse to fight back against this Florida Congresswoman.
Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) introduced the App Store Freedom Act in June to break Apple and Google's stranglehold on the mobile app marketplace.¹
The bill targets app stores with more than 100 million users and would force these tech giants to allow users to set third-party app stores as their default, install apps outside the dominant platforms, and remove pre-installed apps they don't want.²
Cammack said the legislation aims to hold Big Tech accountable for anti-competitive practices that have driven up prices and limited choices for consumers while crushing innovation from smaller developers.
"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," Cammack explained in a statement.³
The bill also prohibits app stores from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems and prevents them from punishing developers who distribute apps elsewhere.
Apple fires back with children's safety card
Apple wasted no time attacking Cammack's bill with a response that left many scratching their heads.
The tech giant claims the App Store Freedom Act would "undermine kids' online safety" while also "stifling competition and eroding privacy and security protections for consumers."⁴
"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.⁵
That's rich coming from a company that waited until 2024 to close a vulnerability allowing kids to bypass parental controls just by entering a nonsensical phrase in Safari's address bar.⁶
The exploit was first reported in 2021, yet Apple sat on it for three years before finally fixing it.
Now suddenly Apple wants everyone to believe it's the champion of children's online safety?
The hypocrisy runs deeper than anyone realized
Apple's safety argument falls apart under the slightest scrutiny.
The company lets users download applications for MacBooks from any website without its App Store gatekeeping.
If Apple were genuinely concerned about privacy and security, the same restrictions would apply to laptops and phones.⁷
But that's not what this is really about.
The App Store Freedom Act comes on the heels of a landmark federal court ruling finding Apple in contempt of a prior order requiring the company to let developers point customers to their own websites for purchases at lower prices.⁸
The European Commission fined Apple in April 2024 for similar conduct that violated the EU's Digital Markets Act.⁹
This isn't Apple protecting children – it's Apple protecting its bottom line.
The company generated a staggering $383 billion in revenue and $97 billion in net income in fiscal year 2023, exceeding every other Fortune 500 company.¹⁰
Apple maintains that stranglehold by collecting a 30% commission on all App Store transactions and blocking developers from using alternative payment systems.
The DOJ is already closing in on Apple's monopoly
The Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in March 2024, joined by 16 state attorneys general.¹¹
Attorney General Merrick Garland accused Apple of maintaining its monopoly "not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law."¹²
The lawsuit alleges Apple illegally maintains its dominance by making it harder for consumers to switch smartphones, suppressing cross-platform messaging, and limiting functionality of non-Apple devices like smartwatches.¹³
In June 2025, a federal judge denied Apple's motion to dismiss the case, allowing the DOJ's monopolization claims to proceed to trial.¹⁴
Four additional states joined the lawsuit in June 2024, bringing the total coalition to 20 plaintiff states plus the DOJ.¹⁵
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said Apple benefited from previous DOJ antitrust actions against Microsoft in the 1990s that "paved the way for Apple to launch iTunes, iPod, eventually the iPhone, free from anti-competitive restrictions."¹⁶
Now Apple is using the same playbook Microsoft did to crush competition.
Big Tech's lobbying machine kicks into high gear
Chamber of Progress, a center-left tech industry coalition, jumped in to defend Apple's position.
The group claimed Cammack's bill "opens the door to bad actors" and "removes the safety features that make app store ecosystems safer."¹⁷
That's the same tired argument tech companies always use when facing accountability.
Apple ramped up its lobbying spending to millions of dollars in 2022 alone to kill similar legislation.¹⁸
The company knows what's at stake if Congress forces it to compete on a level playing field.
Meanwhile, digital music service Spotify enthusiastically 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," said Spotify's chief public affairs officer Dustee Jenkins.¹⁹
The Coalition for App Fairness also applauded the bill as "a vital step towards empowering developers and consumers by ensuring a level playing field for all participants in the app ecosystem."²⁰
Apple's app store empire is crumbling
The walls are closing in on Apple from multiple directions.
Federal antitrust litigation is moving forward despite Apple's best efforts to dismiss it.
Congress is considering legislation that would shatter Apple's monopolistic control.
States like Texas and Utah are passing their own age verification requirements that force Apple to implement child safety features it should have had years ago.²¹
Apple only started rolling out enhanced child safety protections in early 2025 after states began requiring age verification and parental consent for app downloads.²²
Suddenly Apple cares about protecting kids once lawmakers threatened to hold the company accountable.
The American Family Association worked for a year pushing Apple to enable communication safety features by default on all minor accounts.
Apple finally implemented those changes after applied pressure from parents, advocates, and lawmakers made it clear the status quo was unacceptable.²³
Cammack's App Store Freedom Act represents what free market competition should look like – letting consumers and developers choose the platforms that work best for them without dominant marketplaces rigging the game.
Apple's desperate attempt to hide behind children's safety while fighting against real accountability shows just how worried the tech giant is about losing its cash cow.
¹ Rep. Cammack, "Rep. Cammack Introduces App Store Freedom Act," House.gov, June 25, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Staff, "Apple says Cammack bill would undermine children's online safety," Washington Examiner, November 6, 2025.
⁵ Ibid.
⁶ Staff, "Do Apple's new child safety initiatives do the job?" Kaspersky, June 10, 2025.
⁷ Staff, "U.S. has given Apple's monopoly a free pass, until now," Washington Times, July 17, 2025.
⁸ Coalition for App Fairness, "Coalition for App Fairness Endorses App Store Freedom Act," June 24, 2025.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Department of Justice, "Justice Department Sues Apple for Monopolizing Smartphone Markets," February 6, 2025.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Ibid.
¹⁴ Bruce D. Sokler, "Judge Allows Justice Department's iPhone Monopolization Suit to Proceed," Mintz, July 2, 2025.
¹⁵ Department of Justice, "Four Additional States Join Justice Department's Suit Against Apple," February 6, 2025.
¹⁶ Sara Morrison, "DOJ sues Apple over iPhone monopoly," CNBC, March 21, 2024.
¹⁷ Staff, "Apple says Cammack bill would undermine children's online safety," Washington Examiner, November 6, 2025.
¹⁸ Spotify, "United States – Time to Play Fair," May 6, 2025.
¹⁹ Staff, "Apple says Cammack bill would undermine children's online safety," Washington Examiner, November 6, 2025.
²⁰ Coalition for App Fairness, "Coalition for App Fairness Endorses App Store Freedom Act," June 24, 2025.
²¹ Apple Developer, "New requirements for apps available in Texas," 2025.
²² Staff, "Apple and child safety: The changes don't go far enough," Deseret News, March 4, 2025.
²³ American Family Association, "AFA Secures Major Development in Apple Communication Safety for Children," September 11, 2025.
