Apple, Google News in trouble: Renowned UK-based broadcasting company files complaint

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has filed a complaint with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), alleging that news aggregators such as Apple News and Google News do not give sufficient credit to the news providers they feature.

The complaint is part of an ongoing investigation into the dominance of tech giants in web browser engines and smartphone operating systems.

BBC has asked the CMA to require Apple and Google to more prominently credit news sources.

“If audiences derive value from our content and services but attribute that value to gatekeepers instead of the BBC, then that undermines the perceived value of the BBC,” the UK-based broadcaster’s complaint reads.

This is particularly important for the BBC, as it relies on a licence fee paid by British households for most of its funding.

The visibility and value of the BBC's work are crucial in maintaining support for the licence fee. Apple recently paused AI-generated news summaries after complaints of inaccuracy from the BBC and other publishers.

The CMA's decision would theoretically apply only to UK publications, but any changes made by the aggregators would likely affect other publishers as well.