FTC rewrites rules on Big Tech mergers with aim to ease monopoly-busting

Enlarge / Lina Khan, chair of the Federal Trade Commission. (credit: Bloomberg / Contributor | Bloomberg)

Antitrust enforcers released a draft update outlining new rules today that officials say will make it easier to crack down on mergers and acquisitions that could substantially lessen competition in the US.

Now the public has 60 days to review the draft guidelines and submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) before the agencies’ September 18 deadline. A fierce debate has already started between those in support and those who oppose the draft guidelines.

Over the next two months, the FTC hopes to gain widespread public support for what the FTC has positioned as commonsense updates as tech mergers have recently raised complex legal questions. In a press release, FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said that the merger guidelines “contain critical updates” and were “informed by thousands of public comments—spanning healthcare workers, farmers, patient advocates, musicians, and entrepreneurs.”