Andrew N. Ferguson, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, delivered a stern warning to leading tech firms, advising them against compromising the data security and free speech rights of Americans due to pressure from foreign governments.
In correspondence sent to more than a dozen companies — including Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, X, and Signal — Ferguson stressed that adherence to foreign regulations such as the EU’s Digital Services Act and the UK’s Online Safety Act should not result in the weakening of encryption or the censorship of U.S. users. He cautioned that such actions could potentially breach U.S. law, especially the FTC Act’s prohibition on deceptive practices.
“If companies promise to protect user data but secretly undermine that promise to satisfy foreign demands, they could face enforcement,” Ferguson wrote.
The FTC has a long record of penalizing firms for failing to uphold consumer privacy and data protection standards. This latest move signals heightened scrutiny as global regulatory pressures clash with American data privacy expectations.
