Free Republic

Partisan targeting or legitimate antitrust inquiry?The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking documents from the left-leaning nonprofit Media Matters to determine whether the self-styled watchdog conspired with other organizations to orchestrate illegal advertiser boycotts of conservative news sites in violation of antitrust laws. In 2024, Elon Musk sued the company for allegedly costing his X platform billions of dollars in lost advertising revenue, leading some observers to criticize the current FTC inquiry as a Musk-inspired alliance.What FTC SeeksThe FTC seeks communications between Media Matters and the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) — a cross-industry initiative of the World Federation...

Brief represents the first time the Trump administration has weighed in on green investing issues.. The Federal Trade Commission is throwing its weight behind a high-profile federal lawsuit led by 12 Republican-led states accusing three of the world's largest asset managers—BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard—of artificially constricting the coal market in violation of U.S. antitrust laws, the Washington Free Beacon has learned. The filing in the case is a remarkable move that represents the first time the Trump administration has waded directly into an issue or case related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies. Led by powerful asset managers...

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly offered the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) nearly $1 billion to keep a case out of court that could break up his social media empire. Zuckerberg sat for a third day of testimony on Wednesday in an antitrust case brought against his company by the FTC, which is attempting to force Meta to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp over what the government has said are Meta’s anticompetitive business practices. Zuckerberg called the head of the FTC, Chairman Andrew Ferguson, in March to try to settle the case out of court. Zuckerberg initially offered the...

The FTC is not suing Meta for its past leftism or current MAGA-ism but for its longstanding, documented monopolism. Even Big Tech’s toughest conservative critics must admit Mark Zuckerberg and Meta have had a good few months. In the wake of President Donald Trump’s reelection last November, the $1 trillion company finally scrapped its worst woke initiatives, from Facebook’s infamous “fact-checking” regime to its internal DEI programming. Its sites are apparently no longer throttling political content. And Zuckerberg has even rebranded himself — going “all-in on a MAGA-dominated Washington,” buying a $23 million home two miles from the White House,...

The White House on Wednesday defended the firing of two Democrat commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, saying President Donald Trump was well within his legal right to do so.On Tuesday, Trump dismissed the agency's two Democrats, Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Bedoya released a statement on X saying, "I am a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me. This is corruption plain and simple."Bedoya added that his firing was Trump's attempt to remake the FTC into "a lapdog for his golfing buddies" and urged his followers to "fight back."White House press secretary Karoline...

....I wish Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya well, and I thank them for their service.

Yesterday President Trump signed what could prove to be his most important executive order to date. The order addresses the so-called “independent agencies” of the Executive Branch–the SEC, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, and so on. The purpose of the order is to bring these agencies under presidential control. It begins: Section 1. Policy and Purpose. The Constitution vests all executive power in the President and charges him with faithfully executing the laws. That is correct. The first sentence of Article II is: The executive Power shall be vested in a President...

Multiple sources. - this is a reference post to follow the 2nd and 3rd order effects of this letter 🍿

An FTC lawsuit accuses the agriculture machinery giant of illegal repair restrictions that allegedly inflate costs and deny farmers timely equipment fixes. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with attorneys general from Illinois and Minnesota, filed a lawsuit against John Deere manufacturer Deere and Company on Wednesday, Jan. 15, charging the agriculture machinery giant with engaging in practices that allegedly force farmers to rely on its authorized dealers for critical equipment repairs. According to the FTC’s complaint, these alleged tactics have inflated costs for American farmers and deprived them of the ability to quickly fix the tractors and combines they...

It looks like the Federal Communications Commission under Brendan Carr won’t be the only agency looking to tear down the government-backed dystopian activities of website traffic cop NewsGuard. Federal Trade Commissioner Andrew Ferguson issued a statement Dec. 2 joining his colleague Commissioner Melissa Holyoak in urging the agency “to investigate online platforms for unfair acts or practices relating to their opaque, unpredictable processes for banning users and censoring content.” Ferguson stipulated that “we must vigorously enforce the antitrust laws against any platforms found to be unlawfully limiting Americans’ ability to exchange ideas freely and openly.” Part of Ferguson’s antitrust push...

It’s butter stupidity! Costco was forced to recall nearly 80,000 pounds of butter because the label failed to mention that the kitchen staple contains milk — and many social media users are rolling their eyes at the dairy dilemma. The FDA sent out an initial recall for 79,200 pounds of Kirkland Signature butter due to the undeclared allergen in October. Packages for both the salted and unsalted Kirkland Signature Sweet Cream Butter list cream as an ingredient, but do not include an allergy warning that the butter “Contains Milk.” The bizarre recall has left many internet users scratching their heads....

No one was sure what a Kamala Harris presidency would mean for Lina Khan, the controversial chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appointed by President Joe Biden. But with Harris, too, on her way out, and Republicans slated to take over the White House, we can probably say goodbye—and good riddance—to Khan's reign. With Khan heading the agency, the FTC has taken an aggressive stance against mergers and acquisitions, an aggressive stance against big tech companies, and an odd view of the agency's purpose and authority. "Khan has framed several regulatory issues in the dramatic terms of someone facing...

A federal rule banning fake online reviews is now in effect. The Federal Trade Commission issued the rule in August banning the sale or purchase of online reviews. The rule, which went into effect Monday, allows the agency to seek civil penalties against those who knowingly violate it. “Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said about the rule in August. She added that the rule will “protect Americans from getting cheated, put businesses that unlawfully game the system on notice, and...

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is hitting back at the slew of Democratic billionaires calling for a potential Kamala Harris Administration to fire the sitting chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)./i> “Let me make this clear, since billionaires have been trying to play footsie with the ticket,” the New York Democrat wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “Anyone goes near [FTC Chair] Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise.”Her comments came after billionaire investor Mark Cuban criticized Khan during an event on Tuesday, telling Semafor that “If it were me,...

Republican FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak published a statement on Thursday expressing concern with Big Tech facilitating content harmful to children, but also warning that the Biden-Harris FTC could take actions that result in the censorship of Americans’ online speech. “How social media companies view and treat users increasingly shapes civic discourse and determines the extent of Americans’ freedoms to participate in the modern public square,” Holyoak said. In 2020, during the Trump administration, the FTC issued orders to nine tech companies — Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, Snap, Discord, Reddit, Twitter, and Amazon — seeking to examine their data practices and...

Khan’s FTC, which has opposed mergers that would have been waved through by previous FTC chairs, has seen mixed success. But her nomination by President Biden in 2021 was clearly a challenge to longstanding doctrines that allowed mega-corporations, including “Big Tech,” to consolidate power. She went so far as to call them “mob bosses” in a recent interview with TechCrunch. ... Meanwhile, the donors reportedly also expressed a dislike of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, whose term ends in June 2026.

An interview between Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and CNBC host Joe Kernen boiled over Friday morning, when the two sparred over Vice President Harris’s recent pledge to ban price gouging if elected in November. Harris unveiled her economic plans last week, including the proposed ban, which would give the Federal Trade Commission the ability to investigate companies that increase their prices during periods of higher inflation. “This could be another tool in toolbox,” Warren said of the proposal, before Kernen interrupted. “Senator how would this policy do that,” he asked. Warren replied, “I let you finish your argument, did you...

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday barred a US Federal Trade Commission rule from taking effect that would ban employers from requiring their workers to sign non-compete agreements. The ban, which had been scheduled to go into effect nationwide on September 4, is now effectively blocked. US District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas said the FTC does not have the authority to ban practices it deems unfair methods of competition by adopting broad rules. “The Court concludes that the FTC lacks statutory authority to promulgate the Non-Compete Rule, and that the Rule is arbitrary and capricious. Thus, the FTC’s...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with two other international consumer protection networks, announced on Thursday the results of a study into the use of “dark patterns” — or manipulative design techniques ... In an analysis of 642 websites and apps offering subscription services, the study found that the majority (nearly 76%) used at least one dark pattern and nearly 67% used more than one. Dark patterns refer to a range of design techniques that can subtly encourage users to take some sort of action or put their privacy at risk. They’re particularly popular among subscription websites and apps...

Today, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule to promote competition by banning noncompetes nationwide, protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation. “Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism, including from the more than 8,500 new startups that would be created a year once noncompetes are banned,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC’s final rule to ban noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.”...