RCFP cautions FTC not to deploy its powers to investigate tech platform ‘bias’

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is cautioning the Federal Trade Commission not to deploy its consumer protection authorities to regulate perceived “bias” by technology platforms, noting that doing so could violate the First Amendment. 

In February, the FTC launched an inquiry into what it called “technology platform censorship,” and sought public comment to “understand[] how consumers have been harmed … by technology platforms that limit users’ ability to share their ideas or affiliations freely and openly.”

In comments submitted on May 20, 2025, the Reporters Committee highlighted the significant danger to the press and public were the FTC to investigate perceived bias in content moderation by social media platforms under the commission’s authorities to regulate unfair or deceptive trade practices or unfair competition.

The Reporters Committee is concerned that the FTC’s request for comment suggests that it seeks to repurpose its authorities “to impose the government’s view of fairness or viewpoint neutrality on technology platforms and to force them to host or promote content that their ‘reason tells them should not be published’ or promoted,” the comments stated. “Government non-interference in these private editorial choices is a lodestar of First Amendment jurisprudence and a key protection for an informed electorate.”

The Reporters Committee has been focused in recent years on efforts by federal and state authorities around the country to misuse consumer protection laws to “thumb the scale of political discourse to their advantage.” For example, the Reporters Committee has filed friend-of-the-court briefs in several cases concerning this issue, including Yelp v. Paxton, Twitter v. Paxton, and NetChoice v. Bonta. 

While the request for comment is focused on content moderation by technology platforms, the Reporters Committee expressed concern at the lack of a limiting principle that would block the FTC from using a similar theory to investigate traditional news organizations for perceived failures to properly apply their stated editorial standards.