Aug 27 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has been investigating whether YouTube violated consumer protection laws by suspending users’ accounts and is in the final stages of preparing a potential lawsuit, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The probe comes as FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has signaled greater scrutiny of how online platforms enforce their speech policies.
The agency has been probing YouTube since last year, examining whether Alphabet’s video-sharing platform violated its own user policies when it banned or demoted content, the report said.
The inquiry is examining whether users were misled by YouTube’s content policies into signing up for the service in the belief that they were permitted to post certain content, only to have it removed or their accounts suspended, Bloomberg News reported.
It is unclear which accounts the FTC’s investigation has covered and YouTube has not been accused of wrongdoing, according to the report, which added that investigations could end without any enforcement action.
The investigation is being conducted by lawyers in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection under its director, Chris Mufarrige, according to the report. Some career staff have privately expressed disagreement with filing the case.
YouTube declined to comment while the FTC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request.
An FTC spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg, but said that “leaks will never stop or slow a single law-enforcement investigation or litigation at the FTC” and would be referred to authorities for investigation.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Leroy Leo)
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