In the nearly three years since President Joe Biden picked Lina Khan to lead the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency has been taking on some of the biggest companies in America. They’ve been filing lawsuits or taking other actions to challenge Big Tech, Big Pharma, and other big businesses.
Khan told Nwoow News that the FTC’s main goal is to protect people from unfair or sneaky business practices. Under her leadership, the FTC has been going after industry giants like Amazon, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Amgen, a biotech company. But not every attempt has been successful. For example, they tried to stop Meta from buying a virtual reality company, but it didn’t work out.
Khan, who is 35 years old, is the first person of South Asian descent to lead the FTC. She’s been more aggressive about enforcing antitrust laws compared to past leaders. But Khan says she’s just doing her job as the agency’s top enforcer.
Some people, like those at The Wall Street Journal, have criticized Khan’s decisions. They poked fun at her for trying to block a merger between two luxury fashion companies. But Khan defended the FTC’s actions, saying that most deals in America go through without any questions asked, so when they spot an illegal merger, they have to act.
Khan is known for being tough on Big Tech companies like Amazon. A paper she wrote while she was in law school, titled “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” got a lot of attention. In it, she argued that Amazon was a monopoly that avoided government oversight by focusing on lowering prices for customers.
In September, the FTC and several states sued Amazon, accusing the company of illegal business practices that let it become too powerful.
Khan explained that Amazon has been mistreating small businesses by charging them higher fees. She also said that Amazon uses secret algorithms to raise prices for customers without them knowing.
Amazon pushed back against these claims, saying that their practices actually help competition and innovation in the retail industry.
Both Meta and Amazon asked Khan to step aside from any decisions involving their companies. But Khan refused, saying she didn’t have any conflicts of interest that would require her to step aside.
Khan has supporters from both sides of the political spectrum. People like Senator Bernie Sanders and even some supporters of former President Donald Trump think she’s doing a good job. They call themselves “Khanservatives.”
Khan believes that concerns about big companies having too much power will continue no matter who is in charge of the FTC. She thinks that both Democrats and Republicans will keep an eye on these issues because they’re important for people’s freedom and well-being.
