FTC and DOJ lack administrative authority to enforce and set rules.

Oversight of the dominant digital platforms’ broad effects on society is not possible within the existing federal regulatory structure. Agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) are filled with good and dedicated professionals, yet they are constrained in what they can do. Such limitations are perversely demonstrated by the recent headline-grabbing antitrust actions by both agencies. Antitrust enforcement, while important, is targeted against specific circumstances and cannot protect against general consumer abuses. Similarly, while the FTC also has authority over unfair and deceptive acts, many abuses in the digital marketplace are harmful but not considered deceptive and unfair. The FTC is further hampered by limited power to promulgate broad rules, thus constraining most of its activities to one-off proceedings against a singular company for a specific type of abuse rather than establishing broad behavioral rules across the consumer-facing digital economy.