The U.S. Senate has confirmed Lina Khan as the commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission. The Verge reported that the vote was 69-28. This gives Democrats a majority on the FTC. Lina Khan has filled a vacancy left by Republican appointee Joseph Simons who resigned in January.
The Verge pointed out that Lina Khan’s confirmation comes while Congress is “preparing to take drastic action to curb the power big tech companies have on digital markets.” Those efforts include five bipartisan bills that are intended to chip away at the power of big tech companies.
The New York Times reported that Lina Khan is “a prominent critic of the nation’s largest tech companies”. According to The New York Times, Lina Khan’s confirmation gives her a central position at the agency that investigates antitrust violations, deceptive trade practices and data privacy lapses in Silicon Valley.
Ms. Khan will help regulate the kind of behavior highlighted for years by critics of Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Apple. She told a Senate committee in April that she was worried about the way tech companies could use their powers to dominate new markets.
Lina Khan tweeted: “I’m so grateful to the Senate for my confirmation. Congress created the FTC to safeguard fair competition and protect consumers, workers, and honest businesses from unfair & deceptive practices. I look forward to upholding this mission with vigor and serving the American public.”
Politico reported that the outcome of the vote to confirm Lina Khan gives Democrats the majority at the FTC for the first time under President Joe Biden. The other two Democrats on the FTC are acting Chair Kelly Slaughter and Commissioner Rohit Chopra.
According to Politico, NetChoice, a tech lobbying group, said it was “disheartened” by Lina Khan’s confirmation to the FTC. Google and Facebook are reportedly members of NetChoice.
Overall, I think that it is a good sign when tech lobbying group is unhappy with the confirmation of a new person on the FTC. It means that NetChoice understands that it will have a very difficult time getting its way with three Democrats on the FTC. I believe that upcoming decisions made by the FTC will likely result in good things for consumers.