Andrew Lustigman, Chair of Olshan’s Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group, recently published an article in the New York Law Journal entitled “What Businesses Need to Know about Anticipated FTC Leaderships Changes.” The article addresses anticipated FTC policy shifts under a second Trump administration and the potential impact on FTC enforcement moving forward.
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is expected to maintain its focus on consumer protection under the anticipated leadership of Andrew Ferguson, with shifts in rulemaking authority and enforcement priorities. Ferguson has emphasized combating deceptive practices, particularly those involving emerging technologies like AI, while advocating for a more restrained regulatory approach. Recent cases, such as Lyft’s earnings claims and Rytr’s AI-generated reviews, reflect this balance. As Commissioner Ferguson stated in a recent dissent, “The Commission under President Trump will focus primarily on our traditional role as a cop on the beat. We will vigorously and faithfully enforce the laws that Congress has passed, rather than writing them.”
These regulatory changes are happening alongside shifts in government policy. On January 20, 2025, the first day of his current administration, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that may delay implementation of new regulations. The President’s executive order instructs agencies such as the FCC and FTC to consider sixty-day postponements of any rules that have not yet taken effect “for the purpose of reviewing any questions of fact, law, and policy that the rules may raise.”
One important regulation slated to go into effect on January 27, 2025 has been stayed likely in response to the executive order. On January 24, 2025 the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) reversed itself, postponing the effective date of its One-to-One Consent Rule which would have drastically hampered the lead generation business by requiring consumers to be advised, at the time of their initial consent, what companies would have the right to solicit them, even if the consumers wished to make an open-ended request to receive, for example, text messages from the lowest bidder. The new effective date will be January 26, 2026.
Time will tell as to whether other pending regulations, such as portions of the FTC’s Negative Option Rule or the Junk Fees (price transparency) Rule, will similarly be postponed.
Author:
Andrew B. Lustigman
Olshan Frome Wolosky LLP
ALustigman@olshanlaw.com
www.olshanlaw.com
twitter: @OlshanLaw
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