Washington vs Big Tech: Lina Khan’s battle to transform US antitrust

Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan has begun a fundamental revamp of the FTC by rescinding policies designed to limit its legal powers, changing the way it makes decisions, and promising to rewrite the statements which underpin antitrust enforcement in the US. Supporters say she is putting in the foundations for a new trustbusting age by challenging decades of bipartisan consensus on competition policy, which holds that companies should be allowed to become as large and powerful as they want as long as consumers are not harmed. Khan’s first major actions were to undo policies put in place by the two previous Democratic administrations, which were designed to give businesses more certainty about when the FTC might act but which they believe have tied the regulator’s hands.

Even if Khan does win some of the landmark cases she is likely to bring, some worry the FTC will not have the capacity to write new competition rules and rewrite merger guidelines at the same time; for years the FTC's budget and staffing levels have been chipped away and the agency faces an uphill battle to retain talent. At some point in the next few weeks, the FTC will make a decision on whether to refile that case with a new explanation of Facebook’s monopoly power, which could yet result in the break-up of the social media company. For many observers, this will be the first external test of Khan’s leadership. Success would be seen as vindication for her theories of antitrust and her criticism of Big Tech. Defeat could demoralise the staff around her just as her project is taking shape. For others, however, the proof of her leadership will not be so much in the cases she brings but the institution she leaves behind.