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Facebook also seeks Khan's recusal from FTC case

The move follows a similar petition by Amazon — and anticipates the FTC's decision on refiling its antitrust case against the social media giant.

Lina Khan gestures will testifying.

FTC Chair Lina Khan is a noted tech critic.

Photo: Graeme Jennings/AFP via Getty Images

Facebook is seeking the recusal of U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan from the agency's teetering antitrust case against the company, weeks after Amazon also moved for the removal of Khan, a noted tech critic, from investigations of the retail giant.

The petition to the FTC, which Facebook released Wednesday, comes as the agency must decide whether to refile its antitrust case against Facebook, which a federal judge dismissed in June.

The Facebook petition, which tracked the arguments laid out by Amazon, said that Khan's prior work in academia, think tanks and Congress suggested she had already made conclusions about the merits of the case. The FTC had filed the case before she joined as chair.

Although federal agencies routinely bring in experts, including from elsewhere in the government, Facebook's filing cited her work as a lawyer on the House Judiciary Committee's probe of competition by Big Tech, and noted that a prior chair had to recuse himself in a matter he had investigated as a congressional staffer.

Ben Brody

Ben Brody (@ BenBrodyDC) is a senior reporter at Protocol focusing on how Congress, courts and agencies affect the online world we live in. He formerly covered tech policy and lobbying (including antitrust, Section 230 and privacy) at Bloomberg News, where he previously reported on the influence industry, government ethics and the 2016 presidential election. Before that, Ben covered business news at CNNMoney and AdAge, and all manner of stories in and around New York. He still loves appearing on the New York news radio he grew up with.

lina khanftcfacebookantitrust
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