Op-Ed: Lina Khan’s FTC Is Importing Crushing European Tech Banditry

This piece was originally published in RealClear Markets on June 1, 2023.

Despite a comparably sized economy and a significantly larger population, The European Union (EU) has no burgeoning technology sector like the United States. Most of the world’s biggest tech companies are ones founded and based in the US, followed ominously by China. Instead of attempting to replicate the light-touch regulatory environment that produced American success, EU regulators seem content to levy massive fines against American companies to generate revenue its economies cannot on their own. 

The European Data Protection Board recently issued a $1.3 billion fine to Facebook parent company Meta for supposedly violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is the largest fine the board has handed out under the GDPR. This breaks its previous record of $887 million, set just two years prior when it sued American tech giant, Amazon. With consistent anti-market actions like this, it is no small wonder why Europe has failed to produce large market disruptors. Unfortunately, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seems intent to replicate the EU’s innovation desert on this side of the Atlantic.

It is no secret the FTC has had a tough year. The agency has endured a series of key losses in dubious lawsuits it’s brought against American companies and is currently down to three Democratic commissioners, as opposed to five, after Republican resignations. Instead of taking the hint and changing its approach to what has clearly worked in the past, the FTC is seemingly doubling down on its antics by once again targeting an American company with legally questionable action.

The full piece can be found online here.