Representative David Cicilline (DR.I.), who ended Wednesday’s hearing by saying that some Big Tech companies need to be dismantled, told Axios that Facebook in particular lacks major competitors and should not have been able to buy Instagram and WhatsApp.
Because it is important: Cicilline chairs the antitrust subcommittee, which has been investigating competition issues in the digital space.
“Mr. Zuckerberg acknowledged at this hearing that his acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram were part of a plan to buy a competitor and also maintain his money, power, or dominance. That is classic monopoly behavior.”
– Cicilline said on the podcast “Axios Re: Cap”
Cicilline’s criticism they were not limited to Facebook, noting the power that Google and Amazon also have in their respective markets.
- “I think what we saw today was confirmation that these large technology platforms have lasting monopoly power,” he said in an interview with Axios’ Dan Primack.
The panorama: A key question remains whether the existing antitrust law is broad enough to address the modern technology industry, especially companies offering their products at no direct charge to consumers.
- “Congress will have to ‘think outside the box’ holistically about what antitrust laws should look like in the 21st century,” Neguse told Axios’s Ashley Gold after the hearing.
Whats Next: According to Cicilline, the committee plans to develop a set of recommendations and issue them in a final report in late August.
You can listen to the podcast here.
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