Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced an agency task force to combat unfair and deceptive practices that harm American workers, Breitbart News can exclusively reveal.
Ferguson explained, in a memo obtained by Breitbart News, the agency has historically focused on protecting American as consumers; however, the FTC’s statutory mandate also demands that the agency protect Americans as workers.
“The GOP is a workers party. Those who labor hard for a living delivered Trump’s historic victory. The FTC has their back,” a senior FTC official told Breitbart News.
The FTC is tasked with policing unfair and deceptive practices, and Ferguson’s memo highlights that these practices drive Americans’ wages. He noted many unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive practices that fall within the agency’s jurisdiction.
This includes:
- Unlawful coordination on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which may exclude certain workers from markets based on their race, sex, or, sexual orientation
- Harming gig workers
- Police labor market monopsonies, which the memo stated especially harms rural workers where there may be fewer employment opportunities
- Pushing onerous occupational licensing requirements, which raise unnecessary licensing restrictions to enter a field of work
- Noncompete agreements that punish workers from leaving their company for another in the same industry
Ferguson’s memo noted that, under Biden’s administration, American wages stagnated and job opportunities were few and far in between, and that Americans elected Donald Trump to become the 47th president to alleviate their economic pain.
To alleviate the many issues facing the American worker, Ferguson directed the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Bureau of Economics, and Office of Policy Planning to form a Joint Labor Task Force to:
- Focus on investigating and prosecuting unfair, deceptive, and anticompetitive labor practices
- Share best practices and uncovering and preventing
- Pursue legislative or regulatory chances that would protect workers
This is not the only move Ferguson has taken to protect Americans.
Ferguson launched an investigation into “un-American” big tech censorship, asking for Americans to submit feedback about how their speech has been stifled by America’s most dominant big tech companies.
“Big Tech censorship is not just un-American, it is potentially illegal. The FTC wants your help to investigate these potential violations of the law,” Ferguson wrote last week.
He continued, “We are asking for public submissions from anyone who has been a victim of tech censorship (banning, demonetization, shadow banning, etc.), from employees of tech platforms, or from anyone else who can shed light on these practices and the ways in which they may violate the law.”
“Censorship, even if carried out transparently and honestly, is inimical to American democracy. The Commission must use the full extent of its authority to protect the free speech of all Americans,” Ferguson said concluded in his statement. “That authority includes the power to investigate collusion that may suppress competition and, in doing so, suppress free speech online. We ought to conduct such an investigation. And if our investigation reveals anti-competitive cartels that facilitate or promote censorship, we ought to bust them up.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3
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