Biden appoints 32-year-old Lina Khan to rein in Big Tech

• Lina Khan was nominated to chair the Federal Trade Commission in March by President Biden.
• US Senate confirmed her on June 15 and the same day, she was sworn in after President Biden elevated her. 
• She is known for her criticism of Big Tech's immense market power.  

Big Tech critic Lina Khan has been picked by US President Joe Biden to chair the Federal Trade Commission. Khan was sworn in on June 15 as the FTC chair for a term that expires September 25, 2024,

The antitrust researcher is known for her criticism of Big Tech's immense market power. The Senate confirmed her nomination with a vote of 69 to 28 on Tuesday. Khan, who was nominated by President Biden in March, got elevated to the post the same day. 

"It is a tremendous honour to have been selected by President Biden to lead the Federal Trade Commission," Khan said in a statement. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to protect the public from corporate abuse."

“Prior to becoming Chair of the FTC, Khan was an Associate Professor of Law at Columbia Law School,” said the FTC website said. “She also previously served as counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, legal adviser to FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra, and legal director at the Open Markets Institute.”

Khan’s scholarship on antitrust and competition policy has been published in the Columbia Law Review, Harvard Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. She is a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School.

“The Biden administration’s designation of Lina Khan as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission is tremendous news,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who championed breaking up Big Tech in her 2020 presidential campaign, said in a statement Tuesday. “Lina brings deep knowledge and expertise to this role and will be a fearless champion for consumers.”

The FTC website says: “The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and report scams, fraud, and bad business practices online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Like the FTC on Facebook(link is external), follow us on Twitter(link is external), read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.”

Khan was born to Pakistani parents on March 3, 1989, in London. At 11, she, along with her family, moved to the US.