The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday voted to expand the regulatory agency\u2019s enforcement powers, a signal of Democratic commissioners’ willingness to crack down on alleged anti-competitive behavior.<\/p>\n
The Democratic-controlled commission voted 3-2 along party lines to repeal a 2015 policy statement that blocked the regulatory agency from challenging \u201cunfair methods of competition\u201d that don\u2019t violate existing antitrust laws. The update comes at a time when federal and state regulators are sinking their teeth into investigations of the market power of tech giants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn practice, the 2015 statement has doubled down on the agency’s long standing failure to investigate and pursue unfair methods of competition,\u201d Chair\u00a0Lina Khan<\/a>\u00a0said at the meeting, the first under her charge.<\/p>\n The guidance had \u201conly hindered the agency’s enforcement efforts,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n