US: Facebook recruits ex-DOJ antitrust pro

Facebook hired Kate Patchen, who headed the Justice Deptartment’s (DOJ) antitrust office in San Francisco, this month as associate general counsel for litigation matters.

Kate Patchen, who previously led the DOJ’s antitrust office in San Francisco, joined the social media group as an associate general counsel on litigation matters this month, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Patchen has worked at the Department of Justice for 14 years, during which time she has prosecuted a number of price-fixing cartel cases in the computer memory chip industry.

Ms Patchen’s appointment comes as technology companies grapple with a steady drumbeat of criticism from progressives, who argue companies such as Facebook are too big and should be broken up. Congressman David Cicilline, the Rhode Island Democrat who will chair the judiciary subcommittee on regulatory reform, commercial, and antitrust law in January, has expressed some criticism over the size of Facebook.

He tweeted that Facebook shouldn’t be trusted any longer to regulate itself and said Congress “should get to work enacting new laws to hold concentrated economic power to account.”