FTC’s Google Fine Could Cramp Innovation. Or Not

After the federal government dealt Google a record $22.5 million fine for allegedly misrepresenting its service terms in violation of a previous privacy settlement, a free market group called the punishment a loss for citizens. Other consumer advocacy groups said the sentence was too light because the company didn’t take responsibility for its actions. And some bystanders chalked up the whole thing to a parlor game.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute described the Federal Trade Commission’s penalty as an overreaction that will chill innovation and scare startups away from the Internet. “Although Google found itself in the FTC’s crosshairs this time, the agency could have just as easily targeted any number of other Web companies for similarly minor missteps,” Ryan Radia, CEI associate director of the Center for Technology and Innovation, said in a statement, adding the settlement will benefit regulators and lawyers “at the expense of the consumers the agency is supposed to protect.”