On February 26, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will establish a task force to examine and lead enforcement efforts against anti-competitive activities by big tech companies. The move follows intense scrutiny of the FTC’s enforcement efforts and oversight by Congress. The task force is a part of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition and is composed of approximately 17 lawyers. It is modeled after the agency’s Merger Litigation Task Force, launched in 2002, and will be led jointly by Patricia Galvan and Krisha Cerilli. The FTC’s move comes after reports that Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) plans to create a task force of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees to examine online privacy, content and bias, among other issues. Similarly, the newly-appointed Attorney General William Barr indicated during his confirmation process that he would be interested in further examining the role of big tech companies. Read more about the FTC’s task force here.
Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.