Today, TechFreedom filed comments in response to the Federal Trade Commission’s request for public review and comment on the Draft FTC Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2022 to 2026. In these comments, TechFreedom opposes the agency’s proposed change to the FTC’s Mission. At issue is the proposed change to strike the “without unduly burdening legitimate business activity” clause from the FTC’s mission statement — something the FTC proposes to do without so much as a footnote highlighting the deletion.

“Proposing to remove this clause from the FTC’s mission statement is astounding,” said Andy Jung, TechFreedom’s Legal Fellow. “Since 1997, every FTC Strategic Plan has used this phrase in their mission statement, or extremely similar language. The FTC has repeated and adhered to this mission statement for the last 25 years. The recent 2022 draft is the only exception.”

“Consequently, the draft Strategic Plan raises more questions than it answers,” Jung continued. “Moving forward, does the FTC intend to burden legitimate business activity? Does the agency now believe that certain legal or procompetitive business activities merit regulatory burdens? The Draft Strategic Plan fails to answer these questions, let alone provide any rationale for altering the FTC’s Mission.”

“Ultimately, the agency should retain the ‘without unduly burdening legitimate business activity’ clause in the FTC’s mission and continue to use a balanced regulatory approach which allows, not burdens, procompetitive conduct,” Jung concluded.

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About TechFreedom:

TechFreedom is a non-profit, non-partisan technology policy think tank. We work to chart a path forward for policymakers towards a bright future where technology enhances freedom, and freedom enhances technology.

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