Apple’s App Store Monopoly Scorched by SCOTUS, iPhone Users Ready Lawsuit

At times, it can feel as though Silicon Valley is growing faster than our legislative system can respond.

Nowhere has this been more apparent than in the realm of social media, where “private” companies such as Twitter are allowed to regulate their online footprint in favor of political censorship.  These companies often operate from within the United States, where the First Amendment will forever be part of the pantheon of life, and they provide a very public avenue for Americans to freely express themselves.

Unfortunately, Twitter and other social media platforms don’t see it this way, and have been able to take advantage of the pace of government regulation that may otherwise prevent such abhorrent and obvious censorship.

Another concern is just how few companies virtually own the entirety of cyberspace, allowing these private organizations to fully control the public narrative.

Apple, makers of the almighty iPhone, are now facing the music for their own monopolistic maneuvers in the form of a stunning Supreme Court decision.

A group of iPhone owners accusing Apple of violating US antitrust rules because of its App Store monopoly can sue the company, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in the majority opinion, said that when “retailers engage in unlawful anticompetitive conduct that harms consumers,” people buying those companies’ products have the right to hold the businesses to account.

“That is why we have antitrust law,” Kavanaugh wrote. The court’s four liberal justices joined Kavanaugh in the 5-4 decision.

The Supreme Court opinion notably does not accuse Apple of violating antitrust law: It holds that consumers have the right to sue the company for monopolistic behavior, because they purchase apps directly from Apple.

Such a decision could certainly affect the entirety of cyberspace in the coming months or years, as US citizens continue to implore federal lawmakers to hold these tech companies to the standards of the American Constitution.