President-elect Donald Trump's nomination of Andrew Ferguson to head the Federal Trade Commission is a sign of the Big Tech blackmail he began during his administration's first term in office, experts told The Post. It is the latest sign that the government plans to continue its crackdown on the virus.
Mr. Ferguson, who has served as the FTC commissioner since April and is a former chief adviser to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), has promised to crack down on Big Tech censorship, but he has done much more than that. It is hoped that consensus will be reached in a friendly approach.
The Republican regulator, who also previously clerked for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, will replace current FTC Chairman Kahn, a Democrat who has regularly enraged Wall Street with his tough approach to antitrust enforcement and merger review. .
Immediately after his appointment as the next chairman was announced, Ferguson said he would “end Big Tech's vendetta against competition and free speech,” adding, “America is the world's technology leader and innovators bring new ideas to life. “We will ensure that it is the perfect location for this.”
“He will certainly bring some heat to Big Tech, but he will have a more targeted approach than Chairman Khan,” said Joel Thayer, a Washington, D.C.-based tech policy lawyer. “His recent agreement regarding the advertising cartel is a key example of this.”
Just this month, Ferguson called out the rise of a “Big Tech censorship conspiracy” that is disrupting the flow of online discussion about everything from the coronavirus pandemic to the Post's exclusive reporting on Hunter Biden's laptop. denounced.
Mr. Ferguson also accused the now-bankrupt Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) and NewsGuard of playing a role in curbing the flow of advertising dollars to news organizations that were arbitrarily deemed a risk to “brand safety.” denounced groups like . Republicans warned that such an organization could violate the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Ferguson's comments echoed those of incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who has been an outspoken critic of Big Tech censorship and has vowed to address bias in the digital advertising industry.
“The European Commission must use its authority to the fullest extent to protect the free speech rights of all Americans,” Ferguson said in a Dec. 2 statement. “That power includes the power to investigate collusion that could stifle competition and suppress free speech online. We should conduct such investigations. When our investigations reveal anti-competitive cartels that promote or encourage censorship, we should expose them.”
As FTC chairman, Ferguson will take over a variety of FTC cases, including Mark Zuckerberg's ongoing cases against Meta and Amazon.
Last month, Khan approved a major investigation into Microsoft focused on its efforts in cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
Mr. Ferguson has frequently opposed Mr. Khan's aggressive crackdown on getting deals done and plans to reverse it.
In a one-page memo circulated Ahead of his nomination, Mr Ferguson vowed to “reverse Lina Khan's anti-business policies”, including scrapping what he called “burdensome regulations”.
Ferguson also said he would “end the FTC's attempts to become an AI regulator” and “stop Lina Khan's merger wars.”
“Judging by his dissent, it's clear that Mr. Ferguson's decisions will be a little more deliberate than his predecessors,” Thayer added. “He seems very conscious of where the court stands on administrative law issues.”
President Trump also appointed Mark Meador, a former Justice Department and FTC official who served as antitrust policy advisor to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), to the FTC Commissioner. If Meador is confirmed, Republicans will gain a majority of government agencies.
Meador is known to be skeptical of Big Tech and is expected to support efforts to crack down on industry efforts to stifle smaller rivals.
The Post reported that both Ferguson and Meador were candidates for FTC chair along with fellow current Republican commissioner Melissa Holyoak, but Holyoak is more vocal about Big Tech. The move had drawn scrutiny from anti-monopoly advocates, who feared it would take a flexible approach.
Mr. Ferguson, the current FTC commissioner, does not need to be reconfirmed by the Senate, a fact that President Trump said allows him to “fight on behalf of the American people on Day 1.”
“Andrew will be the most America-first, pro-innovation FTC Chairman in our nation's history,” President Trump said.
