The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is warning 13 major tech companies that they will be held accountable if they censor Americans or compromise privacy and data protections under pressure from foreign governments.
In letters sent on Aug. 21 to some of the largest providers of cloud, social media, messaging, and other online services, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson reminded them of their legal obligations to protect American consumers, regardless of what foreign regulators may demand.
“I am concerned that these actions by foreign powers to impose censorship and weaken end-to-end encryption will erode Americans’ freedoms and subject them to myriad harms, such as surveillance by foreign governments and an increased risk of identity theft and fraud,” Ferguson wrote in the letters….