Chapters Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon criticized in Congress

At the hearing in the subcommittee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress on Antimonopoly Policy on Wednesday, members of Congress from both parties sharply criticized the leaders of the four largest American technological companies - Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple. According to many congressmen, these corporations actually have monopoly power and abuse their market position.

The hearings were held in a television conference format. For the first time, all 4 managers of technological giants participated in them: Sundar Pichai (Alphabet, owner of Google), Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Tim Cook (Apple).

What they are accused of

The head of the subcommittee on antitrust policy David Sicillin began hearing with a brief list of claims to corporations. According to him, companies "used their power by a destructive and harmful way to expand their position in the market." According to the results of the hearings, he did not change his opinion, saying that some of the IT giants should be divided, and the entire market is more rigidly regulated.

Representatives of both parties are convinced that IT giants are now playing such an important role in the market that their solutions can have socio-political consequences. Republicans fell in criticism primarily by Google, accusing the corporation of actual censorship of conservative media and blogs. Democrats more often criticized Facebook, saying that, in their opinion, the fight against “fake news”, as well as inciting hatred in social networks.

In addition, the companies were accused of unfair competition, including illegally collecting competitors, using their intellectual property, and squeezing from the market. Sicillin compared the leaders of companies with the "emperors", emphasizing that America was built on the principle of unacceptability of sole power.
government. Our founders were not inclined to the kings. Now we should not bow to the emperors of online economics, ”Sicillin said.

The position of the heads of corporations

The leaders of the corporations as a whole defended the policy of their companies and rejected part of the accusations, primarily of unfair competition. Tim Cook said that Apple is not a leader in any of the markets, and therefore it is impossible to call it a monopoly. The head of Google said that the company has many tools to support beginner bloggers and founders of IT startups. Zuckerberg in response to the claims that Facebook bought Instagram to get rid of a competitor, said that Instagram without Facebook investments would hardly have reached a heyday. At the same time, part of the comments expressed by the congressmen - including regarding the possible violation of political neutrality - the leaders of the companies promised to study.

According to the results of the hearing, the head of the subcommittee promised to soon publish a report on the investigation of the activities of IT giants, which has been underway for more than a year. Based on this investigation, further steps to tighten the regulation of the market can be accepted.