CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Google will testify before Congress later this month to answer questions related to their extensive Big Tech antitrust investigation. The plans were first reported by Kara Swisher, before a Committee spokesperson Judicial Chamber confirms plans to The New York Times. Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Sunbet Pichai of Alphabet / Google and Jeff Bezos of Amazon have agreed to testify.
The news of the July hearing marks a significant step in the investigation of the antitrust subcommittee of the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, which investigates different alleged abuses committed by each of the four companies. For Google, the discussion has focused on its control of the advertising market, but for Facebook the focus has been its acquisitions. Apple’s app store policies have been the brunt of its antitrust scrutiny, while Amazon’s treatment of third-party vendors is being examined.
While tech leaders have appeared in Congress before, the gathering of the four Techopolypse riders should be an epic spectacle. But that’s only if lawmakers do their job and ask one-off questions about the true impact of their power on competition.
– Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) July 1, 2020
The antitrust investigation by the House Judiciary Committee was first announced in June 2019. It made formal requests for documents to large tech companies last September. The committee has already organized several panels with smaller companies such as Sonos, Tile and Basecamp, during which these companies claimed to have been harmed by the monopolistic practices of the large technology companies. the NYT He notes that the committee is believed to be nearing the end of its investigation.
Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai have already testified in front of Congress, but it will be the first time for Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The exact date and format for the hearings, held in person or virtually, have not yet been decided.
Beyond its antitrust investigation, the committee is likely to ask about other important business issues as well, such as hate speech on Facebook and Google’s YouTube split, as well as Amazon’s treatment of warehouse workers, The New York Times notes
The Judicial Committee’s antitrust investigation is not the only regulatory battle Big Tech is currently facing in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission announced an investigation into the acquisitions made by the big tech companies, and the Justice Department and 50 attorneys general of the US states and territories are also conducting antitrust investigations of their own. Internationally, EU regulators are conducting their own investigations.
