FTC Backs Meta Motion to Keep Sealed Materials on Khan Recusal Petition

The FTC is backing Meta’s Oct. 17 administrative motion to keep under seal the materials the agency designated as confidential in a joint statement of recent decision that same day alerting the court that Meta’s petition for the recusal of FTC Chair Lina Khan in the agency’s review of Meta’s Within Unlimited buy is pending before the commission. Now under “provisional seal” are “specified portions” of the joint statement, the entirety of Exhibit B to the joint statement and two lines from the declaration accompanying the joint statement that describe the contents of Exhibit B, said the FTC. There is “good cause” to keep the information confidential, said the FTC Monday in a statement of support (docket 5:22-cv-04325) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose. “The public interest weighs heavily in favor of keeping the material at issue under seal” because it is covered by an FTC protective order and confidentiality rules in a “pending administrative case,” it said. “The FTC’s administrative confidentiality procedures warrant deference,” it said. The commission will “suffer injury” if the sealing request is denied, it said. “A less restrictive alternative to sealing would not be sufficient, because it would result in public release of information that is protected by the deliberative process privilege,” it said.