US President Joe Biden announced late Monday his plan to appoint the Pakistani-origin critic of ‘Big Tech’ and Silicon Valley, Lina Khan, to lead the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — an organization with jurisdiction on certain mergers and competition policies.
A graduate of the Williams College and Yale Law School, Lina Khan is a legal scholar specializing in competition and antitrust law.
Khan — who is presently the assistant law professor at the Columbia Law School — has also served with the Democratic members of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.
“Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Lina Khan for Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission,” the White House said in a statement issued Monday night.
At the Columbia Law School, Lina Khan “teaches and writes about antitrust law, infrastructure industries law, and the antimonopoly tradition”, it added.
Lina responded to the news by saying “So very honored and humbled by this nomination,” she wrote on Twitter.
So very honored and humbled by this nomination, and excited to get to work if I’m fortunate enough to be confirmed!https://t.co/1Bzm0Wkqy3
— Lina Khan (@linamkhan) March 22, 2021
If elected to the position, the Pakistani-origin scholar would become the FTC’s third Democratic commissioner overseeing privacy and data security.
