The FTC turns its watchful eye toward YouTube
According to a new report, the agency will poke around to see whether channels were wrongly suspended.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is focusing its investigative efforts on YouTube, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., also known as Google. According to a Bloomberg report, the FTC is probing the video-sharing platform for potential violations of consumer protection laws, specifically related to account suspensions and content removal.
This investigation has been ongoing since last year, though no specific accounts have been named, and the company has not been formally accused of wrongdoing. The FTC's interest in this matter comes amid a trend of using the legal system to address grievances, as exemplified by the ban on former President Donald Trump's account on the platform from 2021 to 2023.
Additionally, numerous accounts were suspended during the same period for disseminating misinformation about COVID-19. While it remains uncertain whether this probe will culminate in a lawsuit, should it progress to that stage, YouTube could either settle the dispute or defend itself in court. The FTC Chair, Andrew Ferguson, has stated that the revelation of this news might deter certain law-enforcement investigations or legal proceedings within the FTC.
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