In an internal memo, FTC exec director said the agency will cut costs, freeze hiring, and lower IT spending, even as Congress pushes for action against Big Tech
Alex Kantrowitz / Big Technology : Tweets: @kantrowitz , @wbm312 , @wbm312 , @jeffhauser , @wbm312 , @jesselehrich , @lam_barrett , and @kantrowitz Tweets: Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : News: An internal FTC memo announces major cost cuts ahead of possible action against the tech giants. It amounts to “A breathtaking constraint on capacity” former FTC chair William Kovacic tells me. More here: https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ... Whitney Merrill / @wbm312 : Basically these cuts mean if you push back as a company against any privacy enforcement (pushing it to litigation) the chances are that they'll drop it for lack of resources. https://twitter.com/... Whitney Merrill / @wbm312 : “Congress has made a show of hauling big tech executives before their committees, but its members disdain the idea of funding the regulators who restrain the abuses they decry.” Truth. https://onezero.medium.com/... Jeff Hauser / @jeffhauser : UGH UGH UGH BIDEN must “Build Back Better” at key regulators across the executive branch. https://twitter.com/... Whitney Merrill / @wbm312 : Hey @HawleyMO - I'm one of those former @FTC privacy attorneys who left and now in tech! Happy to have an open conversation as to why. I'm still a strong supporter of the FTC and call for it regularly to have more power. https://twitter.com/... Jesse Lehrich / @jesselehrich : if lawmakers actually want to rein in big tech, they need to empower & properly fund the FTC. https://twitter.com/... Lindsey Barrett / @lam_barrett : the FTC that's already vastly outmanned by corporate lobbyists and lawyers on an absolutely clownish scale when you compare its ability to investigate and punish lawbreaking with that of its foreign counterparts? that FTC? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : Sum of new FTC cost cutting: - Bringing Fewer Cases / Decreasing Case Related Costs - Hiring Freeze - Increased Leave Without Pay - Decreased Call Center Hours - Information Technology Cuts This is the agency tasked with restraining Amazon and FB: https://bigtechnology.substack.com/ ...