Mimi Walters Explains Why DOJ’s Apple Lawsuit Is an Attempt to Dismantle the Free Market

Former Rep. Mimi Walters writes in The National Review: “The Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple is weak, it seeks to substitute central planning for consumer preference, and it will threaten innovation.”

Walters writes that “individuals have better knowledge of what they want than any central planner does. By disregarding this fundamental tenet, the administration risks stifling the dynamism and creativity that have defined our tech sector for decades.”

Walters details the flaws in the government’s case against Apple: First, DOJ’s antitrust case looks at Apple’s attractiveness to consumers as a sign of monopoly. DOJ’s filing says this quiet part aloud. The lawsuit claims: “As developers created more and better products, content, apps, and services, more people bought iPhones, which incentivized even more third parties to develop apps for the iPhone.” Yes, that is what happens when a tech company builds a successful product that consumers like.

The money quote: “Having a desirable product that gains market share is not – and must not become – the standard for bringing the full force of the state against a company. If success becomes an antitrust violation, then the government’s real target is not any specific company but the free market itself.”

The second flaw Walters sees is that the filing makes the preposterous claim that smartphone innovation – with Google, Samsung, and LG – has stalled because Apple’s tactics have “suppressed” innovation. This would have us ignore the fact that every year new smartphones come to market with appealing new designs and innovative, sometimes startling, new services.

Third, Walter notes that “the complaint argues that Apple should be required to help its competitors, a concept that does not exist in antitrust law.” DOJ argues that Apple should open its system to the makers of other smartwatches. She writes: “Apple will probably argue that it has technological and data-security reasons for limiting third-party smartwatches, but even if it didn’t, there’s no antitrust principle that requires companies to design devices to help their competitors.”

Walters’ bottom line: “The Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple will threaten innovation and harm consumers.”

Mimi Walters spells out the radical implications of what the Biden Administration is doing in antitrust. “Khanservatives” who want to jump on board with progressive antitrusters like FTC Chair Lina Khan should be aware that they are becoming the enablers of socialism.