FTC Chair Lina Khan, Republicans to Face Off Over Twitter Probe

WASHINGTON—House Republicans and Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan are set to clash Thursday over her agency’s investigation of Elon Musk’s Twitter and what her critics say is an antibusiness agenda.

The FTC is examining whether Twitter under Musk is protecting users’ privacy. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) and other Republicans on the panel claim Democrats are targeting Musk for actions such as reinstating banned conservative accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump. Khan is scheduled to appear before the committee Thursday.

The panel has subpoenaed Khan for documents related to the probe, but she has withheld them, saying FTC investigations are confidential and that the agency will “enforce the law without fear or favor.”

The FTC has said the Twitter investigation is looking for potential breaches of a previous agreement between the FTC and Twitter, in which the company settled alleged violations of consumer-protection law by agreeing to a detailed and intrusive set of data-security controls. Republicans say FTC letters they have obtained indicated the agency is overstepping its authority.

They cite a Dec. 13 FTC demand that Twitter identify journalists whom it had granted access to company records—a request Khan said grew out of security concerns but which Jordan has characterized as infringing on press freedoms protected by the First Amendment.  

In addition to the Twitter probe, Republicans aim to show that Khan is pursuing an antibusiness agenda driven by progressive social goals untethered from the law. 

Her appearance comes just two days after a judge ruled against the FTC’s effort to stop Microsoft’s proposed purchase of the videogame developer Activision, providing more grist for Republicans who claim Khan is pursuing specious cases. The FTC is appealing the ruling.

The Microsoft case “continues a theme that has emerged in recent FTC litigation: many theories, no evidence,” said Robert Kaminski, an analyst with research firm Capital Alpha Partners.

For Khan, the hearing offers a high-profile platform to take on some of her harshest critics.

Khan and her Democratic defenders as well as some small business groups say her more combative approach to antitrust enforcement has notched successes, for example by blocking allegedly anticompetitive deals such as semiconductor giant Nvidia Corp.’s proposed acquisition of Arm, a leading chip designer. 

Even the FTC’s losses in the tech sector help make the case for Congress to toughen antitrust laws, they say.

“After decades in which the antitrust agencies largely ignored the impediments facing small business, Chair Khan has set the agency on track,” said a letter to the House panel this week from Small Business Rising, a coalition of independent business groups. 

Republicans on Thursday also will likely question Khan on her decision to participate in a recent case against social media giant

Write to Ryan Tracy at [email protected]