November, 14 2018, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Timothy Karr: 201-533-8838,,tkarr@freepress.net
WASHINGTON
A new election means a new Congress -- which means new opportunities for change.
Early estimates show that more than 70 percent of newly elected Democratic members of Congress expressly campaigned on restoring Net Neutrality protections, and those are just the ones who made it an issue in their elections. Dozens more candidates have spoken up in favor of other essential communication rights like protecting our privacy, closing the digital divide, supporting quality journalism and much more.
Our 2019 policy priorities lay out a proactive agenda for the new year and the new Congress, to move us closer to building media and communications systems that empower everyone to connect and communicate freely and safely.
Over the past two years, changemakers inside and outside of Washington have had to devote a great deal of energy to playing defense against the Trump administration's attacks on our communities and our communications infrastructure. That work must and will continue, but we believe it isn't enough to guard our past -- we must also chart our future.
We deserve a media system that's open, affordable, democratic and safe for all people. In the end, communication tools both old and new are just that -- tools that can be used to liberate or to oppress. We can't allow inertia to lock us into replicating history's mistakes.
Bold action is necessary to ensure that our media future is one of liberation.
We've identified four major priorities:
- Restoring Net Neutrality and fostering broadband choice and internet affordability.
- Breaking up media conglomerates to promote local journalism and media equity.
- Strengthening privacy and civic discourse on the internet's biggest platforms.
- Making communities safer from surveillance by federal agencies and local police.
You can read the full document here. Then join us and our 1.4 million members by fighting for the media and technology policies and tools everyone needs and deserves.
Free Press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. We believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse and independent ownership of media platforms, and journalism that holds leaders accountable and tells people what's actually happening in their communities.
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Trump Pick to Replace Lina Khan Vowed to End 'War on Mergers'
In a one-page document obtained by Punchbowl, Ferguson—who previously worked as chief counsel to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—pitched himself to Trump's team as the "pro-innovation choice" with "impeccable legal credentials" and "proven loyalty" to the president-elect.
Ferguson's top agenda priority, according to the document, is to "reverse Lina Khan's anti-business agenda" by rolling back "burdensome regulations," stopping her "war on mergers," halting the agency's "attempt to become an AI regulator," and ditching "novel and legally dubious consumer protection cases."
Trump announced Ferguson as the incoming administration's FTC chair as judges in Oregon and Washington state
blocked the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, decisions that one antitrust advocate called a "fantastic culmination of the FTC's work to protect consumers and workers."
According to a recent
report by the American Economic Liberties Project, the Biden administration "brought to trial four times as many billion-dollar merger challenges as Trump-Pence or Obama-Biden enforcers did," thanks to "strong leaders at the FTC" and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.
In a letter to Ferguson following Trump's announcement on Tuesday, FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Kelly Slaughter wrote that the document obtained and published by Punchbowl "raises questions" about his priorities at the agency mainly "because of what is not in it."
"Americans pay more for healthcare than anyone else in the developed world, yet they die younger," they wrote. "Medical bills bankrupt people. In fact, this is the main reason Americans go bankrupt. But the document does not mention the cost of healthcare or prescription medicine."
"If there was one takeaway from the election, it was that groceries are too expensive. So is gas," the commissioners continued. "Yet the document does not mention groceries, gas, or the cost of living. While you have said we're entering the 'most pro-worker administration in history,' the document does not mention labor, either. Americans are losing billions of dollars to fraud. Fraudsters are so brazen that they impersonate sitting FTC commissioners to steal money from retirees. The word 'fraud' does not appear in the document."
"The document does propose allowing more mergers, firing civil servants, and fighting something called 'the trans agenda,'" they added. "Is all of that more important than the cost of healthcare and groceries and gasoline? Or fighting fraud?"
As an FTC commissioner, Ferguson voted against rules banning anti-worker noncompete agreements and making it easier for consumers to cancel subscriptions. Ferguson was also the only FTC member to oppose an expansion of a rule to protect consumers from tech support scams that disproportionately impact older Americans.
"Andrew Ferguson is a corporate shill who opposes banning noncompetes, opposes banning junk fees, and opposes enforcing the Anti-Merger Act," said Basel Musharbash, principal attorney at Antimonopoly Counsel. "Appointing him to chair the FTC is an affront to the antitrust laws and a gift to the oligarchs and monopolies bleeding this country dry."
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