Republicans attack FTC chair and big tech critic Lina Khan at House hearing

Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, faced a grueling four hours of questioning during a House judiciary committee oversight hearing on Thursday. Republicans criticized Khan – an outspoken critic of big tech – for "mismanagement" and for "politicizing" legal action against large companies such as Twitter and Google as head of the powerful antitrust agency. In his opening statement, committee chair Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said Khan has given herself and the FTC "unchecked power" by taking aggressive steps to regulate practices at big tech companies such as Twitter, Meta and Google. He said Khan carried out "targeted harassment against Twitter" by asking for all communications related to Elon Musk, including conversations with journalists, following Musk's acquisition because she does not share his political views. Khan, a former journalist, said the company has "a history of lax security and privacy policies" that did not begin with Musk.