Oversight hearing of the Federal Trade Commission is starting at 2:30pm. Live-streaming here. Expect FTC Commissioners to talk about how aggressively they enforce the law and/or take naps. commerce.senate.gov/public/index.c…
Chairman of the Commerce subcommittee, Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas, is opening the hearing with a statement going after Google and Facebook hard on privacy. Wants to know what is going on with Facebook investigation. Wants a Federal privacy law. commerce.senate.gov/public/index.c…
Now @DickBlumenthal: "All too often the FTC has fallen short on enforcement... too often the problem" is "a lack of will." Wow. "This hearing is about finding out whether the FTC is ready and willing to take on hard problems."
"We've seen the consequences of lack of enforcement with Facebook." Well @DickBlumenthal is putting the Cambridge Analytica scandal at the doorstep of the FTC. He says it would never have happened if the consent decree had been enforced.
Global parliamentarians went after Facebook this morning. Now the U.S. Senate is going at Facebook and Google in an FTC oversight hearing. "This issue is about big tech. Congress is fed up."
"Big tech is maybe no longer entitled to be as big as it is." - Senator Richard Blumenthal
Senator Richard Blumenthal is clearly fed up with the FTC, Facebook, and Google. Blumenthal is a cautious lawyer and former state AG, so his aggressive words about the FTC and big tech are important.
FTC Chairman @JoeSimonsFTC wants privacy legislation that can be enforced by the FTC. Hard to square his desire for more authority with the commission's general lack of enforcement. #FTCOversightHearing
Now @JoeSimonsFTC is talking about the FTC series of useless #FTCHearings as foundational for revising their approach to antitrust.
Now Dem commissioner @chopraftc is on fire. "Without question, settlements are important. No agency can litigate everything. But no agency should ever appear to strong-arm small defendants into financial ruin, while letting big companies off the hook with a slap on the wrist."
So @chopraftc is pushing for the FTC to go to trials instead of useless settlements. He cites other other agencies' failures. "Even after big settlements, we saw how agencies continued to fight fire after fire with companies like Wells Fargo, where abuse was widespread."
GOP commissioner @FTCPhillips is talking about working w/international authorities. This is where much of the right antitrust establishment is taking refuge, basically working to influence antitrust agencies in places like Brazil (which just shut down a Google investigation).
It's just weird how out of touch @SenBillNelson @JoeSimonsFTC and @FTCPhillips sound. Senators @JerryMoran and @DickBlumenthal are angry about Facebook. Phillips is stuck in the mid-2000s talking about the talented staff of the FTC.
It seems as if @RKSlaughterFTC is going to ask for more authority and resources for the FTC. Unclear why the FTC should have more authority and resources. The FTC doesn't want to use the authority it has.
The argument for authority and resources falls down when you look at the FTC's recent approval of the second and third largest industrial gas companies in the world. They approved this for no reason. And with no resource or litigation risk. openmarketsinstitute.org/releases/open-…
I'm impressed by @FTCPhillips and @chopraftc. I don't agree with Phillips but he's actually thinking about how to do the job. Now the fifth FTC Commissioner - Republican Christine Wilson - is talking about opioids. Interesting. #FTCOversightHearing
Oh this line of questioning by @DickBlumenthal asking whether the FTC knew what was disclosed today by Parliament about Facebook's internal knowledge of Russian manipulation in 2014. @JoeSimonsFTC said he hadn't known about this. Ouch.
The FTC Chairman said 'it's safe to assume we're investigating' when there's a media report and Senator Blumenthal said "It's not safe to assume..." and demands to know when the FTC investigation will be done. @JoeSimonsFTC won't give an answer.
Ha, the FTC Chairman won't even tell @DickBlumenthal how many employees are investigating Facebook. "I can't comment on a non-public investigation."
@DickBlumenthal There’s no respect for the FTC on Wall Street. Not a single analyst asked Zuckerberg about the investigation in recent investor calls.
