- Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Apple’s Tim Cook and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the leaders of the most powerful technology companies, will face questions from US lawmakers at an antitrust hearing on Wednesday, according to Axios.
- The House of Representatives’ Judicial Branch Antitrust Subcommittee is investigating whether these companies have engaged in anti-competitive business practices aimed at trampling on their smaller rivals and maintaining their monopoly on the market.
- The audience, titled “Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 6: Examining the Domain of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google”, will be available to watch through a live YouTube feed.
- According to hearing reports, CEOs will give virtual testimonies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is permitted.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google are due to testify before Congress Wednesday at an antitrust hearing.
The Antimonopoly Subcommittee of the Judiciary of the Chamber will question the four executives at noon, Eastern time, or at 9 a.m. The hearing was originally scheduled for Monday, but was postponed because the late Representative John Lewis would be at the United States Capitol next week.
Apple and Google’s operating systems have become a ubiquitous piece of technology for millions of consumers, while Facebook has largely dominated the social media space and ad revenue opportunities. And Amazon has surprised the retail industry with its gigantic e-commerce platforms. But US lawmakers are investigating whether or not these companies have used business practices to crush smaller rising competitors, in turn staying on top of their respective markets.
According to the subcommittee’s press release, “Members can participate remotely in this hearing.” Anonymous sources told Reuters that CEOs will virtually attend in light of the pandemic. However, according to the hearing notice, it is scheduled to take place at the Rayburn House office building in Washington DC
Among lawmakers who will question tech CEOs are three who own thousands of shares in some of the tech firms under investigation, as Business Insider’s Aaron Holmes reported Thursday.
The hearing will be broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the House Judiciary Committee. You can see it through the embed below:
Get the latest Google share price here.
