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Platforms demand recusal of FTC, DOJ antitrust officials; and Facebook’s power of redaction
21 January 2022 00:00
Duration: 17:13
Amazon, Facebook and Google are on a mission: to ensure that the United States Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and Department of Justice antitrust division head Jonathan Kanter recuse themselves from key decisions affecting the digital platforms. Why? Because, they argue, the two officials’ past work and public utterances mean they’re incapable of overseeing their agencies’ investigations impartially. But a court ruling is suggesting the tech giants may be facing an uphill battle. Also on today’s podcast: Facebook’s 2019 settlement with the FTC included a commitment to make changes to its privacy compliance structure and carry out internal privacy assessments. But what’s in those assessments? We may never know, with a US Supreme Court ruling on the US’s Freedom of Information Act allowing Facebook — or Meta Platforms, as it’s now known — to demand heavy-handed redactions of FTC documents.
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11 January 2022 23:09 by Max FillionBig Tech’s efforts to force US FTC Chair Lina Khan and Department of Justice antitrust division head Jonathan Kanter to be recused from their agencies
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Editorial Team
James Panichi Senior Editor, Asia Pacific

James, an Australian journalist with over 25 years’ experience in print and electronic media, is spearheading MLex’s coverage of regulatory risk in Australia and New Zealand. In 2016, James was appointed as MLex’s managing editor for continental Europe, overseeing the Brussels bureau’s coverage of EU regulatory affairs and managing a team of 16 journalists in Brussels and Geneva. Previously James worked for the European Voice newspaper, before joining the European operation of US political website... Read more
Max Fillion Correspondent

Maxwell is an antitrust correspondent for MLex’s Washington, DC bureau. He started with MLex North America as a general assignment reporter. He is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Prior to reporting in DC, he covered the Missouri General Assembly for the Columbia Missourian and interned in MLex’s Brussels, Belgium bureau.
Mike Swift Chief Global Digital Risk Correspondent

Mike Swift is an award-winning journalist who has been at the forefront of covering data, privacy and cybersecurity regulatory news for nearly a decade. As the Chief Global Digital Risk Correspondent for MLex, in addition to reporting, he coordinates MLex’s worldwide coverage in the practice area. Formerly chief Internet reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and SiliconValley.com, Mike has covered Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter and other tech companies and has closely tracked technology... Read more