The portrait of Lina Khan, author of the Yale Law Journal, “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.
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Lina Khan, the noted technology critic whose review of the antitrust case against Amazon has sparked an estimate by law enforcement, is choosing President Joe Biden to become commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, the White House said Monday.
If confirmed, Khan will be able to vote on important cases involving antitrust and consumer protection at the FTC. This could include a decision to initiate an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, which it would have investigated, as well as the blocking of purchases by large companies.
The selection has already been rounded up by progressives who see Khan as the type of executor who could rule out tech giants that parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle believe have abused their power. It is based on Biden’s decision to hire another prominent lawyer, Tim Wu, to work on technology and competition policy at the National Economic Council.
Khan is widely praised in progressive circles for his antitrust fellowship, which has focused primarily on technology companies. As a law student at Yale University in 2017, she wrote a viral note entitled “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox,” which challenged the consumer welfare approach that has dominated antitrust enforcement for years. Most recently, he taught 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 such as Amazon, which can act as a guardian of a market. She wrote that the platforms could engage in a practice of setting prey prices, for example, which would seem to benefit consumers by lowering prices, but in fact eliminate legitimate competitors who could innovate even more.
She 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 antitrust chamber’s justice subcommittee. Khan worked mainly on the Google section of the report. The democratic proposal offered radical reforms to antitrust laws that would make it more difficult to buy smaller companies for technology giants, among other suggestions.
While lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pushed for stronger enforcement of antitrust laws against technology companies, Khan’s nomination could still face some winds. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, criticized Khan’s youth and experience in a statement after Politico reported earlier this month about his selection.
“Ms. Khan undoubtedly has a promising career ahead of her, but being less than four years out of law school, she lacks the experience needed for a role as important as the FTC commissioner,” Lee said. “His views on antitrust enforcement are also highly outdated, with a cautious approach to the law. Ms. Khan’s nomination would signal that President Biden intends to put ideology and policy before the competent application of antitrust, which would be seriously disappointing at a time when it is absolutely essential to have strong and effective leadership in law enforcement agencies. This moment is too important for our antitrust authorities to learn in the workplace. “
If confirmed, Khan will join Democratic and Acting Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Republican Commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson. This would leave Biden a further post as commissioner to complete the five-member group of the agency, after appointing current Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra to head the Office of Consumer Financial Protection.
Khan is also tasked with analyzing consumer protection cases taken by the FTC. In recent years, such cases have included the $ 5 billion FTC agreement with Facebook on its privacy policies and a $ 170 million fine against YouTube for alleged violations of children’s privacy protections.
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SEE: How US antitrust law works and what it means for Big Tech