Dec. 11 (UPI) — President-elect Donald Trump selected Andrew Ferguson, a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission, to lead the agency.
Trump announced the selection in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday in which he praised Ferguson as a censorship watchdog who will bring changes to the FTC.
“Andrew has a proven record of standing up to Big Tech censorship and protecting freedom of speech in our great country,” Trump wrote. “Andrew will be the most America First and pro-innovation FTC chair in our country’s history.”
Ferguson’s confirmation as a commissioner was initially blocked by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who was concerned about his links to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Hawley eventually dropped his objection in March after Ferguson expressed support for strong antitrust enforcement.
He will replace President Joe Biden‘s FTC chair Lina Khan, who concentrated on anticompetitive mergers and practices of Big Tech companies.
Ferguson said in a post on X that he was “honored” to be selected for the role of FTC Chair.
“At the FTC we will end big tech’s vendetta against competition and free speech,” Ferguson added. “We will make sure that America is the world’s technological leader and the best place for innovators to bring new ideas to life.”
Since Ferguson is already a commissioner, can take over the FTC chair post upon Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and does not have to wait for confirmation.
In a letter last week, Ferguson spoke out against what he called censorship of conservative voices on social media platforms and how they appeared to skirt antitrust laws.
“We must vigorously enforce the antitrust laws against any platforms found to be unlawfully limiting Americans’ ability to exchange ideas freely and openly,” Ferguson said in his letter, dated. Dec. 2.
“We must prosecute any unlawful collusion between online platforms and confront advertiser boycotts which threaten competition among those platforms.”
Trump on Tuesday also selected Mark Meador, an antitrust law firm partner, to become an FTC commissioner.