Report: FTC to Sue Amazon for Antitrust Violations Next Week

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly expected to file a lawsuit against Amazon for antitrust violations next week.

The anticipated antitrust complaint, which will be filed in federal court, is expected to focus on several key issues, Bloomberg reported Friday (Sept. 22), citing unnamed sources.

Reached by PYMNTS, an FTC spokesperson declined to comment on the report.

The lawsuit will address Amazon’s pricing policies, its Prime subscription service and allegations that the company illegally ties merchant access to its marketplace to the use of its logistics service, according to the report.

One of Amazon’s key differentiators has been its Prime membership, which has helped convert occasional shoppers into loyal customers, the report said. However, the FTC’s investigation will likely examine the impact of Prime on competition and consumer choice.

The FTC has been monitoring Amazon for over four years, per the report. During the Trump administration, a probe was opened into potential anticompetitive conduct related to various aspects of Amazon’s business. More recently, under FTC Chair Lina Khan‘s leadership, the agency has refined its investigation and initiated new inquiries into the tech giant.

In August, Amazon executives met with Khan and the FTC’s other commissioners to discuss the potential lawsuit, according to the report. However, no settlement was reached during the meeting.

The anticipated lawsuit will mark the agency’s fourth attempt to address concerns regarding the online retail giant’s practices, the report said.

The FTC previously sued Amazon in May, filing two separate cases, per the report. The first case accused the company of failing to delete data about children collected by its Alexa speakers, while the second case alleged illegal spying on users of its Ring doorbells and cameras. Amazon agreed to pay $30.8 million to settle these suits, although it disagreed with the FTC’s allegations.

A month later, the FTC filed another suit against Amazon, claiming that the company deceived consumers into signing up for the Prime subscription service and made it intentionally difficult to cancel, according to the report. On Wednesday (Sept. 20), the FTC amended its complaint to include three Amazon executives as defendants in the case. Amazon is contesting these allegations.