December 14, 2020 | 8:37 pm
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asked Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other big tech companies for significant amounts of information about their data collection, advertising practices and user engagement.
The commission’s study will lift the hood on social media and video streaming companies to carefully study their engines.
the FTC said in a statement
The orders endorsed by four of the five FTC commissions were submitted under the authority of a federal law that allows the agency to conduct studies for lawmakers to have on hand when crafting relevant laws.
The entity issued orders to nine social media and video streaming companies, requiring them “to provide data on how they collect, use and present personal information; their advertising and user participation practices, and how their practices affect children and adolescents ”.
The recipients on the list are Amazon, TikTok parent ByteDance, the chat platform for Discord players, the networks Facebook, Reddit, Snapchat, Twitter, the call and message application WhatsApp, and the online video channel YouTube.
Amazon made the list because of its popular Prime television streaming service, according to the FTC.
“The FTC wants to understand how business models influence what Americans see and hear, who they talk to, and what information they share,” the agency said.
Scrutiny topics will include what social media and video streaming services do with information about users, as well as how they determine which ads people see and their tactics to promote engagement with the site, according to the FTC.
The companies in question must respond to the demands within 45 days of receipt.
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