FTC Takes Step to End “Tyranny of Big Tech” with RFI

Aaron J. Burstein and Laura Riposo VanDruff: As its first policy initiative under Chair Andrew Ferguson, the FTC announced a Request for Information (RFI) ​“to better understand how technology platforms deny or degrade users’ access to services based on the content of their speech or affiliations, and how this conduct may have violated the law.” The premise of the RFI is that ​“technology platforms” – which include a wide variety of ​“internet services” – ​“deny or degrade (such as by ​“demonetizing” and ​“shadow banning”) users’ access to services based on the content of the users’ speech or their affiliations, including activities that take place outside the platform,” which the RFI refers to as ​“adverse actions.” The RFI solicits comments from consumers who have experienced limits on the ​“ability to share . . . ideas or affiliations freely and openly,” including from ​“current and former employees of technology platforms” who may have knowledge of platforms’ motivations behind their decisions and policies.