Washington Post: Biden taps Big Tech critic Lina Khan to chair the Federal Trade Commission

June 15, 2021 Media

In a move that heralds a growing effort to check the power and influence of Big Tech, President Biden on Tuesday appointed Lina Khan, a top antagonist of the tech industry, to chair the Federal Trade Commission, the federal government’s primary antitrust watchdog.

Biden’s decision to put Khan in charge of the FTC’s agenda is the clearest sign yet that his administration will take a drastically different approach to regulating the tech giants than did President Barack Obama, whose administration took a largely hands-off approach toward Silicon Valley.

Advocates for greater enforcement of antitrust law said Khan’s confirmation could signal a turning point for the agency, after what they say have been decades of inaction since the Reagan administration.

Khan can “chart a wholly different approach,” said Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “The chair has significant authority over the direction of the agency.”