Trump Nominates Ferguson, Current FTC Commissioner, as Chairperson

Reuters Yonhap News

Donald Trump, the President-elect of the United States, nominated current Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Andrew Ferguson as the chairman of the FTC on the 10th (local time). The FTC, equivalent to Korea's Fair Trade Commission, is a U.S. federal agency that regulates monopolies and unfair trade practices.

In a statement, Trump said, "Andrew has a proven track record of standing up against Big Tech censorship and protecting freedom of expression," adding, "Andrew will be the most America-first and pro-innovation FTC chairman in U.S. history."

The current chairman, Lina Khan, is known as the so-called "Big Tech Grim Reaper." Chairwoman Khan has filed lawsuits against Big Tech companies such as Amazon and Meta and has blocked mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between companies.

However, since the nominee Ferguson recently stated that the FTC should continue strong investigations into Big Tech's market dominance, there are expectations that the regulatory stance will continue under the second Trump administration. He is also known to hold the view that social networking services (SNS) should be prosecuted under antitrust laws if they suppress conservative viewpoints or if advertisers cooperate with such suppression.

However, he has indicated that some of Chairwoman Khan's agendas, such as regulations on artificial intelligence (AI) and strict standards on mergers, should be withdrawn.