I'd never really considered it before, but of course the author is correct. Control of an API is the control of a language, and as with 1984's Newspeak, control of language is a powerful tool.

Amazon's control of the dominant language to describe infrastructure (its own web services API), for example, gives it a competitive advantage beyond its head start and inertia.

Of course, an unused API is as apolitical as an unused language, and noting that an API is political due to its usage (and is more political the more used it is) may be a useful extension of the idea.