Federal Trade Commission Chairman Lina Khan faced more than three hours of criticism and ridicule from Republicans during Thursday’s House hearings, showing her courage to call for a crackdown on the growing power of tech giants. That’s because some critics are putting increasing pressure on the Federal Trade Commission.
In a highly partisan hearing, Republicans accused Mr Khan, 34, of “harassing” companies, who have carried out an aggressive plan of lawsuits and investigations against tech companies. Lawmakers who repeatedly interrupted Khan also ridiculed him for the FTC’s recent loss in an antitrust lawsuit and the waste of government resources.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, a California Republican, told a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee that he would give the merger trial a 0 out of 4 score. “Why are you losing so much?”
The intense session capped a painful week that brought intense scrutiny to the FTC. It was Khan’s first public appearance since a judge ruled Tuesday against officials’ attempt to block Microsoft’s $70 billion acquisition of Activision. It was a major loss for the FTC in technology litigation, after another judge ruled in May against Meta’s attempt to block its acquisition of virtual reality app maker Within.
Khan has become a lightning rod in efforts to curb corporate power and strengthen the FTC’s enforcement powers. Since President Biden elected her to head the agency two years ago, she has said the FTC has become too complacent and needs to pursue more lawsuits against companies, even if it doesn’t always win. have argued. She said that even though she lost the case, the lawsuit highlights the need to update antitrust laws for the digital age.
At Thursday’s hearing, legal scholar Khan said he did not file a lawsuit that he thought would lose. But without mentioning her Microsoft lawsuit, she admitted the risks of her own strategy.
“We fight hard when we believe that the law has been broken, but unfortunately things don’t always go as planned,” said Khan.
The loss hasn’t dampened her focus on the tech industry. The FTC on Thursday filed an appeal against the court’s decision on the Microsoft-Activision deal. It also launched an investigation this week against OpenAI, the artificial intelligence startup behind chatbot ChatGPT, for allegedly harming consumers by violating privacy and security, and for spreading false information about individuals. bottom.
The White House on Thursday reiterated its support for Khan. “Chairman Khan has had consequences for his families, consumers, workers, small businesses and entrepreneurs,” White House Assistant Press Secretary Michael Kikukawa said in a statement.
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