By MoginRubin, Competition Law News
They appeared at the hearing, appropriately enough, digitally. This allowed the witnesses, captains of the tech industry, to be in two places at once on July 27, 2020, when they testified before the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. When it came to their conduct in their respective markets, the CEOs and the members of the Subcommittee also were in separate places.
Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com, Inc.; Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google parent Alphabet, Inc.; Tim Cook, CEO, Apple, Inc.; and Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook, Inc. testified live via web video before the Subcommittee chaired by David N. Cicilline of Rhode Island. The Subcommittee is part of the House Committee on the Judiciary, chaired by Jerrold Nadler of New York. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey declined an invitation from Subcommittee Republicans, much to their irritation. As President Trump’s favorite bullhorn, Twitter has drawn the attention of the commander in chief and his allies for flagging some of his tweets as violations of Twitter’s “abusive behavior” policy.
To hear the CEOs tell it, their companies are building a better world. And in many ways they certainly are. This article was drafted on an Apple computer using Microsoft Word with some research performed via Google. It will be noticed on Twitter, and it may even make its way to a Facebook page near you. The CEOs say their platforms give individuals and businesses access to tools and information they would never have had before, and much of it for free, they said. They are socially and environmentally responsible. They are creating jobs. They connect people with each other, with valuable products and services, and with information in volumes never imagined. They are doing all of this in the face of stiff competition from larger players in specific segments as well as smaller innovators and disruptors snapping at their heels.
To hear the Democratic members, the companies are ruthless, mercenary bullies who have little regard for fair competition or the privacy of individuals or companies. They use their dominance to act both as service providers and competitors against the retailers use their platforms. Their positions give them access to competitive information which makes them better able to compete with their own clients. Should any company start to give them a run for their money, these giants devour them. And, to hear some of the Republican members, the companies are biased against conservative points of view.
