Apple CEO Tim Cook: Tech companies have to fight fake news

Tech companies are finally catching up to their responsibility in spreading fake news — and that includes Apple.

"You have to give the consumer tools to help with this," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with Good Morning Britainposted Friday. "We’ve got to filter out part of it before it ever gets there without losing the great openness of the internet."

Cook didn't say what Apple would do to combat fake news, a term that is now almost meaningless thanks to its use as a pejorative for anything from misleading, false and partisan articles online that mimic real reporting to stories that don't meet the approval of President Donald Trump.

Apple — unlike Facebook — hasn't been tagged with the blame for fake news and its influence on the U.S. presidential election. Facebook introduced a few fixes in December meant to stem the spread of misleading information on its platform.

Apple does offer Apple News, its iOS app and main news platform that curates articles from news sources for Apple users.

"This is one of today’s chief problems," Cook said. "It is not something that has a simple solution."

Tweet may have been deleted

Cook also weighed in, again, on President Donald Trump's travel and immigration ban against seven Muslim-majority countries.

"He's our president. On the issue of immigration specifically, we support broad-immigration, particularly of high-skilled folks," Cook said. "I think this is so important for the world. We are better because we're a diverse company."

Cook discussed Apple's investment in its British business despite the United Kingdom's impending exit from the European Union during his trip.

"We're a big believer in the U.K.," Cook said. "The U.K. will be just fine."