US President Joe Biden on Monday named a distinguished advocate of breaking apart Big Tech companies to a key regulatory put up, in a transfer suggesting an aggressive posture on antitrust enforcement.
The White House stated it was submitting the nomination of Lina Khan, an affiliate professor of regulation at Columbia University’s regulation faculty, to the Federal Trade Commission, an company with authority over some mergers and antitrust coverage.
The transfer follows the naming of Tim Wu, one other Big Tech critic, to an financial advisory put up within the White House.
Khan beforehand served as counsel to the US House of Representatives’ subcommittee on antitrust, which final 12 months launched a prolonged report suggesting grounds for breaking apart giants equivalent to Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Apple.
She additionally authored a 2017 paper known as “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” which outlined the rising dominance of the e-commerce and tech large, which some say helped shift sentiment on antitrust.
Khan labored within the workplace of Federal Trade Commission member Rohit Chopra and was authorized director on the Open Markets Institute, a assume tank which has been extremely crucial of the Silicon Valley giants.
The information comes amid a rising backlash in opposition to tech behemoths which have dominated key financial sectors and seen their affect develop in the course of the coronavirus pandemic.
The transfer is more likely to set off a contentious nomination struggle, with some Republicans already expressing opposition to Khan.
Utah Senator Mike Lee stated earlier this month that “being less than four years out of law school,” Khan “lacks the experience necessary for such an important role as FTC Commissioner.”
Additionally, Lee stated, “her views on antitrust enforcement are also wildly out of step with a prudent approach to the law” and that her appointment “would signal that President Biden intends to put ideology and politics ahead of competent antitrust enforcement.”
But Charlotte Slaiman of the buyer advocacy group Public Knowledge welcomed the information, saying earlier this month that Khan’s appointment “will signal that antitrust enforcement and important competition policy changes will be a high priority.”
Lawmakers and policymakers lately have been mulling the decades-old “consumer welfare” customary of antitrust enforcement, which permits for a largely hands-off strategy for giant companies so long as costs are usually not impacted.
Critics say this strategy has allowed Big Tech companies to develop unchecked with unprecedented energy over key sectors of the economic system.
Last week, appearing FTC chair Rebecca Slaughter recommended heightened antitrust scrutiny, together with of the digital economic system.
“The increasing presence of large technology companies in our daily lives and in our economy animates recent calls for antitrust reform,” Slaughter advised a congressional panel.
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