(Editor’s Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
OPINION
Over the past two years, the commonwealth of Virginia has stood firm against overreach from the federal government.
Attorney General Jason Miyares has fought government overreach by challenging the federal government's mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the FBI targeted American Catholics who attend the traditional Latin Mass as "potential terrorists," our commonwealth condemned the Biden-Harris administration's anti-Catholic FBI as "unacceptable, unconstitutional, and un-American."
Miyares also launched Operation Ceasefire with Gov. Glenn Youngkin to get criminals off of our streets.
Our Commonwealth presents a stark contrast to the political objectives of President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and their Department of Justice. Biden and Harris instead seek to infringe upon personal freedoms, target religious groups, and let crime run rampant.
That's why it's so important that conservative attorneys general continue to hold the line against the Biden-Harris administration and its allies in Washington, especially when the administration uses the DOJ to fulfill a political agenda.
The more I've read about the DOJ's case against Apple, the clearer it is that it's a messaging lawsuit being used to score political points with the left ahead of the election. It's filled with criticisms of design choices and innocuous features that actually seem to benefit consumers rather than harm them.
Opposing the Biden-Harris DOJ on this case would protect our commonwealth from the the politicization of the Justice Department.
While the Biden-Harris DOJ claims the reason Apple products are popular among consumers is because the company uses monopolistic tactics, the actual bones of the case could not be farther from the truth. Instead of evidence, the lawsuit critiques design features, safety, and privacy guidelines that keep American consumers safe and complains that Apple must have violated antitrust law to develop products that consumers love.
Apple is accused of anti-competitive behavior because the Apple Watch works better with the iPhone than other devices. Obviously, products made by the same manufacturer are going to pair better together, but that does not mean consumers have no other options.
If you want to use one or the other with another product, we, as Americans, have the freedom to buy another from the diverse market for smartwatches.
Despite the fact that a number of other hugely popular messaging services like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are available on the App Store and used on Apple products every day, the Biden-Harris DOJ complains that the color design of iMessage entraps American consumers and prevents them from switching to another device. I don't know about you, but the thought that blue or green could hold me prisoner to a device is preposterous and not what the DOJ should use our tax dollars on.
It raises the question: Why does the Justice Department want to get into technology product design? Why, instead of investigating real violators of antitrust law who harm consumers, do they care if a messaging system uses a blue or green color?
A political stunt is the only answer and will lead to worse products for you and more power for the government.
Another pillar of the case targets Apple's App Store and its high privacy standards that protect our private data against cybersecurity risks. Those standards ensure the safety and validity of in-app purchases and limit the surveillance scope of "super apps" like WeChat, an app that houses all of your data — messaging, shopping, entertainment — in one place.
Apple allows super apps on its App Store, as long as they abide by the privacy and safety standards every other app also has to follow.
There are more cybersecurity threats today than ever before, and Apple takes those threats seriously on behalf of their consumers. These strict guidelines are the same for all apps and in all countries, not to maintain a monopoly but to uphold data and device security and privacy.
This whole case is a classic example of federal government overreach suppressing American innovation posing as genuine antitrust action. It's clear that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris wanted favorable headlines ahead of the election at the expense of our free market.
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