Interview with Petra Wikström, director of public policy at Schibsted, on joining the Coalition for App Fairness to pressure app store owners to change rules
Nordic publishing giant Schibsted became one of 20 new members of the recently formed Coalition for App Fairness earlier this month. Tweets: @larakiara and @appfairness Tweets: Lara O'Reilly / @larakiara : Not many publishers are prepared to speak out against Apple. Nordic publisher Schibsted is concerned about App Store fees, the inability to own subscriber data if they sign up via its app, and the upcoming IDFA privacy changes https://digiday.com/... @appfairness : “What is really apparent now is that these gatekeepers such as Apple are really becoming private regulators.” - Petra Wikström, @SchibstedGroup director of public policy https://digiday.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
When Epic, Spotify, and Match Group launched the Coalition for App Fairness in September 2020, the fight against Apple was led by consumer-app makers with direct commission disputes. Schibsted signing on as one of 20 new members widens the front to news publishing, where the grievances are broader than the cut: losing ownership of subscriber data when readers sign up inside the app, plus the coming IDFA privacy changes, stack on top of App Store fees.
Petra Wikström's framing — that gatekeepers like Apple are becoming "private regulators" — marks the coalition's rhetorical shift from complaining about pricing to arguing that app stores need outside oversight.
First-order effects
- Apple now confronts a publisher willing to say publicly what most won't: for a subscription business like Schibsted's, App Store fees, ceded subscriber-data ownership, and IDFA changes compound rather than stand alone.
- The coalition converts what were bilateral developer-versus-Apple disputes into an organized lobbying bloc with a European media member.
Second-order effects
- Publisher participation compounded fast: weeks later Digital Content Next, representing the NYT, NPR, and Washington Post, joined the coalition, giving it a dedicated media wing alongside the original consumer-app founders.
- By supplying the "private regulators" line, Schibsted handed legislators a ready-made frame — Spotify and Match carried essentially that argument into a Senate hearing the following April.
Third-order effects
- If the private-regulation framing holds politically, app store rules and their take rates become candidates for formal regulation rather than matters left to platform discretion.
- Publishers demanding ownership of subscriber relationships could force a split between app platforms' distribution role and data custody, reshaping what in-app subscriptions are worth to media businesses.
The trend: App store governance is shifting from platform-set rules toward externally contested regulation, as coalitions of developers and publishers turn individual grievances into legislative pressure.