Longtime Amazon Critic Lina Khan Aims to Regulate Retailer, According to Reuters

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON – The efforts of Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan to challenge Amazon’s market dominance reached a significant milestone this week as her agency filed a comprehensive antitrust lawsuit against the online giant.

In 2017, Khan authored a pivotal academic article that highlighted concerns regarding the company’s business structure and practices, arguing that they raised anticompetitive issues and had evaded antitrust oversight. In her piece, published in the Yale Law Journal, she noted, "With its missionary zeal for consumers, Amazon has marched toward monopoly by singing the tune of contemporary antitrust." Khan asserted that the retailer had managed to avoid government scrutiny by emphasizing low prices for consumers as a central component of its strategy.

Now, six years later, Khan, who took the helm of the FTC in 2021, is spearheading the antitrust initiative against Amazon. The FTC has requested a judge to "put an end to Amazon’s illegal course of conduct," dismantle its monopolistic control, and restore competitive conditions in the marketplace.

Khan claimed that Amazon has employed "punitive and coercive tactics" to unlawfully sustain its monopolies, arguing that the company is enhancing its profits at the expense of American families who shop on its platform, citing increased prices and declining service quality.

In response, Amazon has been proactive in its defense. In 2021, the company filed a petition asking for Khan’s recusal from Amazon-related matters, citing her history of advocating for the company’s breakup. On the day the lawsuit was announced, Amazon dismissed the allegations, asserting that it has contributed to fostering competition and innovation within the retail sector.

Under Khan’s leadership, the FTC has adopted a stringent approach towards Amazon, including allegations that the company improperly enrolled consumers in its paid subscription service and made cancellations difficult. Earlier this year, the FTC reached a $5.8 million settlement with Amazon’s Ring doorbell camera division for privacy violations and fined the company $25 million over children’s privacy issues linked to its Alexa virtual assistant.

Khan has been a vocal critic of Big Tech even prior to her tenure at the FTC. While working with the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, she contributed to a significant report that accused major companies, including Amazon, Apple, Meta (formerly Facebook), and Google of market dominance abuses.

Since the publication of her 2017 article, Amazon’s market cap has more than doubled to $1.35 trillion, with revenues soaring from $177 billion to $434 billion last year. The company has invested over $530 billion in the U.S. since 2010 and currently employs approximately 1.54 million people.

Khan’s stance has garnered influential backing. Senator Bernie Sanders, a long-time supporter, lauded the lawsuit as indicative of the excessive concentration of ownership across various sectors, which he argues benefits shareholders while leading to higher prices for consumers.