Trump’s FTC chair pick vows to end ‘Big Tech’s vendetta against free speech’
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President-elect Donald Trump has picked Andrew Ferguson to be the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, who has vowed to end “Big Tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech.”
Ferguson is currently one of the two Republican FTC commissioners appointed by President Joe Biden on the five-member FTC.
“Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship, and protecting Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump also nominated antitrust lawyer Mark Meador to be an FTC commissioner. Meador’s appointment will require Senate approval, while Ferguson’s won’t. Trump last week nominated Gail Slater to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust division, who he said would rein Big Tech.
Ferguson would replace current FTC Chair Lina Khan, who has also been tough on Big Tech – but with a view of challenging monopolies. Ferguson has been more critical of social media influence on public debate and has accused tech companies of censoring conservative views online.
Big Tech – Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Meta (NASDAQ:META) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) – is facing ongoing antitrust cases over alleged monopolistic practices. The FTC, under Khan, has also gone after billion-dollar mergers, including the Kroger-Albertsons deal.
As FTC commissioner, Ferguson has criticized some FTC decisions, such the Chevron-Hess settlement (he accused the agency of reducing antitrust enforcement to a “pay-for-peace racket”), and oversight of Big Tech’s AI investments.
“Comprehensive federal regulation of AI today would be like passing the Federal Aviation Act three days after Kitty Hawk,” he said on the Dynamist podcast last month. “We barely know what we’re dealing with.”