The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforced a fine against “Elon Musk’s Twitter” in 2022 as part of a “partisan” vendetta against the new owner, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio alleged.
The FTC began investigating Twitter in 2019, after the social media platform reported violating its own privacy policies. Twitter paid a $150 million fine to the federal government in 2022. According to Jordan, however, the commission did not intend to enforce a fine against Twitter until Musk became the platform’s largest shareholder in April 2022 and began moving to purchase it outright.
“The Commission took no action against Twitter in 2021,” Jordan noted in a letter to FTC chairwoman Lina Khan. “A close examination of the information provided suggests that there is an unjustified approximate one-year gap in the FTC’s actions with respect to Twitter. A reasonable conclusion is that neither you nor Acting Chair Slaughter seriously planned to take action against Twitter until political pressure arose given Mr. Musk’s impending acquisition.”
🚨 #BREAKING: Weaponization Committee Uncovers New Information Suggesting the FTC is Targeting @elonmusk‘s Twitter pic.twitter.com/wCacypz2ZG
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) June 8, 2023
The FTC faced heavy lobbying from elected Democrats to investigate Twitter in the wake of Musk’s purchase. President Joe Biden said Musk’s foreign investments were “worth being looked at,” while seven Democratic senators led by Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal called on Khan to “vigorously oversee [the FTC’s] consent decree with Twitter.” (RELATED: ‘Ridiculous Statements’: Reps. Jim Jordan, Stacey Plaskett Clash Over Twitter Files)
Jordan began investigating the FTC’s oversight of Twitter early in the 118th Congress. A House Judiciary Committee Republican staff report published FTC letters requesting that Twitter provide information about journalists that Musk worked with to produce the Twitter Files reports. The FTC has repeatedly refused to comply with the Judiciary Committee’s subpoenas, Jordan wrote in the letter.
Republicans have repeatedly expressed concern that Khan, a former Columbia University professor, is using the FTC to push a partisan agenda. A proponent of aggressive antitrust enforcement, Khan has requested companies provide information about how mergers might impact ESG goals, unionization, and equity. She has also moved to write and enforce regulations without congressional authorization.
The FTC currently has only three commissioners, despite federal law authorizing it to have five. No more than three FTC commissioners may be of the same party under the FTC Act. Republican commissioners Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson resigned in 2022 and 2023, respectively, after heated disagreements with Khan’s regulatory stance.