President-elect Donald Trump introduced on Tuesday that he can be nominating Andrew Ferguson as head of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Ferguson would exchange Lina Khan, a regulator who fought for client rights and pushed again arduous towards monopolists. And there’s each indication that Ferguson plans to undo a lot of what Khan completed, at the same time as some notably credulous commentators insist he’ll battle towards potential abuses by Big Tech.
“Andrew has a confirmed document of standing as much as Big Tech censorship, and defending Freedom of Speech in our Great Country,” Trump wrote Tuesday on Truth Social. “Andrew would be the most America First, and pro-innovation FTC Chair in our Country’s History.”
Ferguson is without doubt one of the two Republican FTC commissioners appointed by Joe Biden on the five-person committee. No greater than three of the Senate-approved commissioners can come from the identical political occasion.
Under Khan’s management the FTC has taken daring steps on a number of fronts, banning non-compete clauses, going after corporations like Google and Amazon for being anti-competitive, and releasing essential studies on subjects like mass surveillance by Big Tech, simply to call a couple of. But Ferguson hopes to undo a lot of that.
As Techdirt notes, Ferguson launched a one-page doc final week that “made it clear he was sucking as much as Trump by speaking about all of the powers the FTC needed to go after his tradition battle enemies for his or her speech.” The doc characterised Khan’s time on the FTC as a part of a “woke” agenda and laid out issues that he’d completed to harm the Biden administration.
“Commissioner Ferguson is the America First, pro-innovation alternative for Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission,” the doc begins. “Ferguson has impeccable authorized credentials, confirmed loyalty to President Donald Trump, and a monitor document of standing as much as Big Tech Censorship, DEI-wokeism, and the anti-business, anti-innovation agenda of the unconventional left. President Trump can designate Ferguson as Chairman of the FTC on Day 1 of the Trump Administration—no Senate affirmation is required for sitting FTC Commissioners to turn into Chairman, and his time period doesn’t expire till 2030.”
That’s clearly fairly a technique to lead your gross sales pitch on Ferguson as head of the FTC. But it doesn’t cease there. Line by line, it ticks by way of the ways in which Ferguson would reverse Khan’s legacy on the FTC, characterizing it as an “anti-business agenda.” The doc guarantees to cease Lina Khan’s “battle on mergers” and but cease mergers on the planet of Big Tech.
And it’s that final half that so many commentators have jumped on to insist that Ferguson would really be robust on Silicon Valley in a manner that fights for the little man. But the extra you learn, it’s clear Ferguson’s agenda isn’t really about serving to the typical client. His aim is to battle towards something conservatives don’t like, together with DEI, campaigns towards hate speech, and racial bias in algorithms. The doc additionally calls out “advertiser boycotts,” which is a hobbyhorse of Elon Musk. The billionaire helped Donald Trump get elected in November by throwing over 1 / 4 of a billion {dollars} at Trump and the Republicans, and he insists it ought to primarily be unlawful for personal corporations to cease promoting with corporations that don’t align with their values. That’s essential to Musk as a result of his social media platform X has seen loads of controversy since he purchased the corporate in late 2022.
Obviously no one can predict the long run. But if you happen to check out Ferguson’s one-page pitch to Trump for his place, it’s full of the identical MAGA-world grievances that animate the trendy proper. Trump has blasted Big Tech for being unfair to him, and it appears very doubtless that Ferguson will go after the titans of Silicon Valley however not for any cause that will align with Khan’s extra progressive worldview.
The second time period of Donald J. Trump is poised to be probably the most sadistic in historical past. And with Ferguson able to take the helm on the FTC, don’t get your hopes up for something good to occur as he launches his battle on “woke” whereas permitting large enterprise to get even greater on the expense of competitors.
You can learn the complete Ferguson doc beneath:
