Next week, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is set to convene a vote regarding the issuance of information requests targeting eight social media and video streaming firms over allegations of deceptive advertising practices, according to the agency’s announcement on Thursday.
While the FTC did not disclose the names of the specific social media platforms involved, it indicated that the gathered information would help assess the measures these companies have undertaken to identify and mitigate deceptive advertising on their sites.
Major players anticipated to be affected include Facebook, along with its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp. In the realm of video streaming, prominent platforms such as Alphabet’s YouTube and TikTok are likely to be included in the inquiry.
In addition, the commissioners plan to vote on issuing information requests to five unnamed business credit reporting agencies, focusing on their data collection practices and marketing strategies.
These inquiries could pave the way for potential enforcement actions, depending on the findings, and aim to contribute to studies that may inform future regulations or legislation.
The voting session will take place during an open meeting scheduled for March 16.
In related developments, TikTok has recently launched a new data security initiative known as “Project Clover” due to increased scrutiny from lawmakers in North America and Europe.
Concerns regarding TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, have prompted the European Parliament, European Commission, and EU Council to prohibit its use on staff phones, citing fears about potential data harvesting by the Chinese government.
Moreover, the White House has expressed support for proposed legislation that would empower the administration to ban TikTok and other foreign-owned tech platforms if they are deemed to pose national security risks.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
