WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission has issued warnings to more than a dozen major technology companies, reminding them of their legal obligations to protect the privacy and data security of American consumers despite increasing demands from foreign governments to loosen safeguards or censor online speech.
FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson sent letters to companies across the tech sector, including Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, X, Snap, Discord, Signal, Slack, Akamai, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, and others. The letters cautioned that complying with foreign laws or directives that undermine user protections — such as weakening encryption or limiting free expression — could violate U.S. law.
Ferguson expressed concern over regulatory frameworks like the European Union’s Digital Services Act and the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act, which encourage platforms to restrict online content globally, as well as the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act, which can require companies to weaken end-to-end encryption. He warned that such concessions could expose Americans to greater risks, including surveillance by foreign governments and increased threats of identity theft and fraud.
The FTC emphasized that U.S.-based companies must still comply with the FTC Act’s prohibition against unfair or deceptive practices. If a company promises users robust data security — such as encrypted communications — but secretly adopts weaker measures to meet foreign demands, it could face enforcement actions for misleading consumers.
The agency has a longstanding history of holding companies accountable for failing to safeguard consumer information, having brought dozens of cases over the past two decades involving data security and deceptive practices.
The letters serve as a broader signal that the FTC intends to closely monitor how tech firms respond to international regulations while ensuring U.S. consumer protections remain intact.
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