In a private address, the Republican presidential candidate attacks prosecutors involved in his criminal indictments
americas5 hours ago
Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook are too powerful and will likely emerge from the coronavirus pandemic even stronger, the head of a US congressional antitrust committee said Wednesday at a high-stakes hearing featuring the CEOs of the four US tech giants.
"Simply put, they have too much power," Representative David Cicilline said in his opening remarks at the hearing expected to feature a grilling of the leaders of the technology companies.
"Whether it's through self-preferencing, predatory pricing, or requiring users to buy additional products, the dominant platforms have wielded their power in destructive, harmful ways in order to expand," the Democrat from Rhode Island said.
"Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, these corporations already stood out as titans in our economy," Cicilline said. "In the wake of Covid-19, however, they are likely to emerge stronger and more powerful than ever before."
Republican Representative Jim Sensenbrenner struck a more moderate tone, saying "being big is not inherently bad."
"Quite the opposite, in America you should be rewarded for success," Sensenbrenner said.
The unprecedented joint appearance -- remotely by video -- before the House Judiciary subcommittee features Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Sundar Pichai of Google and its parent firm Alphabet.
The hearing is part of a probe into the competitive market landscape and antitrust law, but questioning is likely to veer into other areas such as hate speech and content moderation, economic inequality, privacy and data protection and even claims of political "bias" from President Donald Trump and his allies.
Ahead of the hearing, the top executives of the firms sought to offer an upbeat assessment of the tech landscape, highlighting their roots and values and how the companies have benefited average Americans.
"An important way we contribute is by building products that are helpful to American users in moments big and small, whether they are looking for a faster route home, learning how to cook a new dish on YouTube, or growing a small business," Pichai said in his remarks.
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