The FTC has ordered nine of the largest technology companies in the world to disclose data about their operations and business practices. Amazon, Facebook, Reddit, Snap, Twitter, and Google parent company Alphabet are amongst the companies at the center of the FTC’s investigation.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the FTC has launched an investigation into the business practices of large social media and internet companies. The investigation will focus on user privacy violations and data mining practices.
In a joint statement, FTC Commissioners Rohit Chopra, Rebecca Slaughter, and Christine Wilson said that the demand for information is a response to the failure of large internet companies to disclose their internal practices surrounding data mining.
“Social media and video streaming companies now follow users everywhere through apps on their always-present mobile devices. This constant access allows these firms to monitor where users go, the people with whom they interact, and what they are doing. But to what end?” Chopra, Slaughter, and Wilson said in their statement. “Too much about the industry remains dangerously opaque.”
The companies have 45 days to reply to the FTC’s demand for information. Information gathered as a result of the investigation may serve as the basis for future legal action by the government.
In a short statement, a spokesperson for Twitter that it will comply with the FTC’s request for information. “We’re working, as we always do, to ensure the FTC has the information it needs to understand how Twitter operates its services,” the spokesperson said.
Breitbart News reported in October that the Department of Justice had filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Google’s parent company, Alphabet. The lawsuit alleges that Google deploys anticompetitive practices to preserve its monopoly on the web search and online advertising industries.
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.
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