Meta’s destroying the FTC: lawsuits threaten to take away the agency’s powers, especially in relation to digital privacy

A lawsuit Meta filed against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) late last month could fundamentally change the agency if the tech giant prevails, including by preventing it from all independent actions to regulate companies and by paving the way for presidents to remove commissioners without cause, former high-ranking FTC officials told Recorded Future News. The agency would lose power in trying to enforce federal consumer protection rules, including those that apply to digital privacy and digital fraud, as well as to a variety of other issues, the former officials said. The commission also would be open to court challenges before it has a chance to settle in-house with companies found to be in violation of regulations. “This is a serious and thoughtful shot right at the heart of the FTC,” David Vladeck, who was director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection during the Obama administration, said in an interview. “There are some issues here that are threatening to the FTC not just in this case but more broadly.” The Washington D.C.-based federal judge presiding over Meta’s case said Monday that he will hear arguments on its lawsuit in late January. Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Meta’s suit challenges the constitutionality of the FTC’s structure and comes in response to proposed new restrictions the commission announced against the tech company in May, unilaterally changing the terms of a prior order. The action was unprecedented, former officials say; typically the commission negotiates with companies before revising orders, particularly as extensively as it did in this case.