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.

Related Content

Editorial Team

James Panichi
Mike Swift

James Panichi Senior Editor, Asia Pacific

James Panichi

James, an Australian journalist with over 25 years’ experience in print and electronic media, helps to oversee MLex’s coverage of regulatory risk in Asia, with special attention to 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... Read more

View all posts written by James Panichi

Mike Swift Chief Global Digital Risk Correspondent

Mike Swift

Mike Swift is an award-winning journalist who has been at the forefront of covering data, privacy and cybersecurity regulatory news for more than 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... Read more

View all posts written by Mike Swift
item icon
iTunes
item icon
Sound
Cloud
item icon
Spotify
item icon
Stitcher