New FTC chief Khan names some top staffers, including competition chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tech critic and the new chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, has named three top staffers in a signal that the agency could become more aggressive in how it enforces antitrust law and laws against deceptive advertising.

Khan, who was sworn in on June 15, named Holly Vedova to be the acting head of the Bureau of Competition, Sam Levine to be the acting head of the Bureau of Consumer Protection and Erie Meyer to be the agency's chief technologist, an FTC spokesman said on Thursday.

The three currently work at the FTC as advisors to Democratic Commissioner Rohit Chopra, according to their profiles on Linkedin. Chopra is a progressive who has been nominated to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and is awaiting confirmation.

Khan herself worked in Chopra's office for part of 2018 as a legal fellow.

Observers broadly expect the FTC to become more aggressive under Khan although in the instances that the agency cannot reach an agreement on matters their lawyers must argue their cases before a judge.

The FTC, which works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law, sued Facebook last year for violating antitrust law and has an investigation open into Amazon.com.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by David Gregorio)