FTC Orders Nine Tech Companies to Participate in Study

Today the FTC issued orders requiring nine social media and video streaming companies—Amazon, ByteDance (owner of TikTok), Discord, Facebook, Reddit, Snap, Twitter, WhatsApp (owned by Facebook), and YouTube (owned by Google)—to provide information for a study it is conducting under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act. The scope of the inquiry is broad and includes how the companies (1) collect and use personal information, (2) target ads and other content, (3) apply algorithms or data analytics to personal information, (4) measure, promote, and research user engagement, and (5) how their practices affect children and teens. The FTC voted 4-1 to issue the compulsory orders. The majority filed a joint statement and Commissioner Phillips filed a dissenting statement. 

In September, OTI joined a coalition of 27 civil rights, digital rights, racial justice organizations, and consumer groups in calling for the agency to include questions in any future 6(b) investiations about how uses of data may reinforce bias and discrimination against historically disadvantaged communities. 

The following quote can be attributed to Christine Bannan, policy counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“The FTC took an important step today to use its authority to investigate the commercial data practices of nine major tech companies. The FTC’s study will help both the agency and the public better understand how tech companies use personal data and how their business practices affect disadvantaged communities. While the discriminatory impacts caused by algorithmic systems are well-documented, scrutinizing these processes and the use of such data by tech companies will help us better form the tools to combat these unfair outcomes.”