Portrait of Lina Khan, the author of the Yale Law Journal article, “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” which has been read far more than any other law article. Khan was photographed at her home in Larchmont, New York, on July 7, 2017.
The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Lina Khan, the leading technical critic examining the antitrust case against Amazon sparked a calculation among executors, is President Joe Biden’s decision to become a commissioner for the Federal Trade Commission, the White House announced Monday.
If confirmed, Khan would go so far as to vote on important cases related to consumer protection and competition in the FTC. This could include the decision to file an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, which it has reportedly been investigating, as well as whether to block the acquisitions of large companies.
The selection has already been applauded by progressives who see Khan as the kind of applicator who could curb tech giants that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle believe have abused his power. It is based on Biden’s decision to hire another prominent advocate for the app, Tim Wu, to work on technology and competition policy at the National Economic Council.
Khan is widely praised in progressive circles for her antitrust fellowship, which has focused especially on technology companies. As a law student at Yale University in 2017, he wrote a viral note titled “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” which challenged the consumer welfare-focused approach that had dominated the antitrust application for years. Most recently, she has been a professor of antitrust law at Columbia University.
In his 2017 note, Khan argued that a broader interpretation of antitrust laws should be used to properly assess a digital platform like Amazon, which can act as a gateway to a market. He wrote that platforms could engage in a predatory pricing practice, for example, that would seem to benefit consumers by lowering prices, but in fact, would eliminate legitimate competitors who could innovate even more.
He also played a key role in drafting the strong report detailing the alleged anti-competitive behavior of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google while working for the Judiciary’s antitrust judicial subcommittee. Khan worked primarily in the Google section of the report. The democratic proposal offered forceful reforms to antitrust laws that would make it difficult to buy smaller companies for the tech giants, among other suggestions.
While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been pushing to enforce antitrust laws against technology companies, Khan’s nomination could still face some headwinds. R-Utah Sen. Mike Lee criticized Khan’s youth and experience in a statement after Politico reported earlier this month on his selection.
“Ms. Khan certainly has a promising career ahead of her, but being less than four years out of law school, she lacks the experience needed for such an important role as an FTC commissioner,” he said. dir Lee. “Her views on the application of antitrust law are also out of step with a prudent approach to the law. Ms Khan’s nomination would indicate that President Biden intends to put ideology and politics ahead of antitrust competition. , which would be very disappointing at a time when it is absolutely critical that we have strong and effective leadership in control agencies. That moment is too important for our antitrust agents to learn at work. “
If confirmed, Khan would join Democratic and Acting Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Republican Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson. This would leave Biden with one more commissioner position to complete to complete the agency’s five-member group, after he appointed current Democratic commissioner Rohit Chopra to head the Office of Consumer Financial Protection.
Sarah Miller, executive director of the antitrust group of the American Economic Liberties Project, told Khan “an extraordinary option for the Federal Trade Commission.”
But, he added, Biden must continue to appoint strong antitrust authorities to the FTC and the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
Khan would also be tasked with considering consumer protection cases taken over by the FTC. In recent years, these cases have included the $ 5 million FTC deal with Facebook for its privacy policies and a $ 170 million fine against YouTube for allegedly violating children’s privacy protections.
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SEE: How U.S. antitrust law works and what it means for Big Tech