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Facebook has asked Lina Khan, the new chair of the Federal Trade Commission, to take a step back in the decision to pursue an antitrust case against the technology group, which marks an escalation in the battle between the head of the regulator and the Silicon Valley’s largest companies.
The social media company introduced a request Wednesday at the FTC, seeking his recusal, citing previous criticisms he has made on Facebook.
The request is the second such request in two weeks, following a similar request from Amazon, in a sign of how Big Tech has been shaken by Khan’s appointment.
Facebook said in its request that Khan, “long before he became commissioner, had already decided the facts relevant to Facebook’s liability in the commission’s antitrust lawsuit pending and had already reached legal conclusions that Facebook was responsible under antitrust laws. “
The FTC did not comment on the request.
Khan gained prominence as an academic by criticizing the power of large technology companies and leading a congressional report last year accusing Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple of abusing their market power.
As president of the FTC, she is at the forefront an attempt by the Biden administration to deal with concentrations of corporate power in various sectors, and is responsible for the FTC case against Facebook, which accusation to use their market power to crush smaller rivals.
A federal judge last month fired the complaint from the FTC, which sought a forced break-up of the company, although it gave the commission a month to file an amended lawsuit if it so wished.
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