The Trump administration will press on with its antitrust cases against Amazon and Meta, a top official said Thursday, vowing to maintain pressure on Big Tech's market dominance.
In an interview with FOX Business, newly appointed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson confirmed that ongoing cases against Amazon and Meta would proceed, emphasizing his commitment to "holding Big Tech's feet to the fire."
Questions lingered on whether the Trump presidency would continue with the cases, given the new proximity between President Donald Trump and tech bosses.
Since Trump's election victory in November, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has moved aggressively to demonstrate political alignment with the White House, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos visited the president during the transition period.
Both were given prominent roles during the president's inauguration ceremony.
The Biden administration's FTC Chair Lina Khan faced bitter criticism from Silicon Valley over what some viewed as aggressive blocking of acquisitions by major tech companies.
"What companies can expect over the next couple of years is vigorous antitrust enforcement," Ferguson said, adding that the agency would strictly follow "the law, not my preferences."
Ferguson on Thursday also launched a public inquiry into how tech platforms restrict user access based on speech content or affiliations.
This would help address the frequent complaint of Republicans that major tech platforms censor conservative content.
The inquiry "marks an important step forward in restoring free speech and making sure Americans no longer suffer under the tyranny of Big Tech -- permanently," he wrote on X, the social media site owned by top Trump advisor and billionaire Elon Musk.
The Federal Trade Commission currently shares antitrust enforcement with the Department of Justice, which has two cases against Google and one against Apple.
The DOJ's antitrust division secured a major victory against Google last year and to resolve that case, prosecutors are seeking to force Google to divest its market-leading Chrome browser.
Gail Slater, Trump's nominee to head the DOJ's antitrust division, has indicated that she will continue the cases against Google and Apple.
The FTC's case against Meta is scheduled for trial on April 14 in federal court in Washington. The Amazon case will be heard in October 2026 in Seattle.
Ferguson also addressed Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides liability protection to online platforms, calling it "in need of very serious reform."
While tech companies strongly defend Section 230, public concern about social media's harmful effects has led to increased scrutiny of the law's broad protections.
Ferguson suggested that a Supreme Court decision or congressional action might be needed to modify the law's scope.