Tag: FTC
-
FTC Pressures Apple on Alleged Political Bias in News Platform
The Federal Trade Commission has stepped into the ongoing debate over media fairness by issuing a warning letter to Apple chief executive Tim Cook to scrutinize the company’s news aggregation service for potential ideological favoritism. In a formal communication released recently, the agency’s leader highlighted concerns that the platform may be amplifying content from progressive…
-
Comcast Agrees to Pay $1.5 Million Fine Over 2024 Vendor Data Breach Impacting 237,000 Customers
The Federal Communications Commission announced this week that Comcast will pay a $1.5 million civil penalty to resolve an investigation into a 2024 data breach at one of its former debt-collection vendors that exposed the personal information of approximately 237,000 current and former customers. According to the FCC’s enforcement bureau, the compromised data belonged to…
-
Amazon Will Pay $2.5 Billion in FTC Lawsuit Settlement
The FTC has settled a lawsuit against Amazon that will have the company pay a $1 billion civic penalty, give customers $1.5 billion in refunds, and change the signup and cancellation process for Prime memberships. “The evidence showed that Amazon used sophisticated subscription traps designed to manipulate consumers into enrolling in Prime, and then made…
-
FTC Sues Ticketmaster for Enabling Illegal Resales, Deceiving Artists & Consumers
The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Live Nation and its Ticketmaster unit, accusing the companies of tacitly coordinating with ticket brokers, enabling the illegal harvest of primary-market tickets, and then profiting when those tickets were resold at large markups on the secondary market. The agency says those practices…
-
FTC Launches Inquiry Into AI Chatbot Safety for Children and Teens
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated a significant investigation into the safety of AI-powered chatbots, focusing on their impact on children and teens. The agency has issued orders to seven major technology companies—Alphabet, Inc., Character Technologies, Inc., Instagram, LLC, Meta Platforms, Inc., OpenAI OpCo, LLC, Snap, Inc., and X.AI Corp.—demanding detailed information on how…
-
Disney to Pay $10 Million Fine Over YouTube Videos It Uploaded
The Walt Disney Co. has reached a $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission to resolve an inquiry into alleged violations of child privacy laws, the agency announced on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. The settlement centers on Disney’s failure to properly designate certain videos uploaded to YouTube as children’s content, which inadvertently allowed those…
-
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down FTC’s “Click-to-Cancel” Rule That Would Have Made It Easier to Cancel Cable TV
In a significant blow to consumer protection efforts, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has vacated the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “click-to-cancel” rule, which was set to take effect on July 14, 2025. The rule aimed to simplify the process of canceling subscriptions by requiring companies to allow consumers to terminate services…
-
FTC Warns Ticketing Companies to Stop Hitting Customers With ‘Deceptive’ Fees
Ahead of the 2025/26 NFL season, the FTC is giving ticket sellers with a warning – stop hitting customers with hidden additional fees during the checkout process. This week, the FTC sent a letter to StubHub, saying that the company may be violating the Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees (Fees Rule) from May 12.…
-
FTC Delays ‘Click-to-Cancel’ Rule, Letting Cable TV Continue to Make it Hard to Cancel
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a delay in enforcing its highly anticipated “click-to-cancel” rule, a regulation designed to make it easier for consumers to unsubscribe from recurring subscriptions and memberships. The decision, has ignited a firestorm of reactions from consumer advocates, businesses, and policymakers, as the rule was seen as a landmark step…
-
Text Message Scams Cost Consumers $470 Million in 2024, FTC Reports
Text message scams surged to a staggering $470 million in consumer losses in 2024, a fivefold increase from $94 million in 2020, according to new data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Despite a drop in the number of reports, the financial toll highlights the growing sophistication of scammers targeting Americans, including 59.6 million cord-cutting…