competition
Bulletins

Antitrust reformers in Congress say the FTC can't let Facebook get away

A federal judge this week dismissed the Federal Trade Commission's complaint against the social media giant, though the agency can refile.

A magnifying glass enlarges part of the Facebook logo.

Facebook is facing intense competition scrutiny.

Image: Protocol

The four top lawmakers overseeing antitrust in Congress urged the U.S. Federal Trade Commission not to ease up on Facebook despite the agency's recent court loss.

"We urge the Federal Trade Commission to continue to pursue enforcement action against Facebook and to consider all available options under the law for ensuring that the Commission's claims receive a full and fair hearing before the court," said a letter released Friday from Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee and Reps. David Cicilline and Ken Buck.

The four signers are the chairs and top Republicans on both chambers' antitrust subcommittees, and eachhaveproposed overhauls to competition law and criticized the conduct of big tech, though their approaches differ.

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the FTC's complaint against Facebook while allowing the agency to refile if it can do more to show why the company is allegedly a monopoly. Facebook crossed $1 trillion valuation on the news.

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.

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Bulletins