The Federal Trade Commission's building in Washington, DC. Photo: Alex Brandon/AP
Terrell McSweeny, the only Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission, said Monday that she's interested in questions around platforms that serve as "the foundation for other platforms — if you think about an app store, for example — whether there are features of those that are unique that include, perhaps, barriers to entry that are formed because of their unique status and what their obligations would be if they are also competitors for other companies in that space."
Why it matters: There's renewed pressure on antitrust authorities to look at big web platforms like Facebook and Google, although McSweeny named no individual companies in her comments to reporters.