"You have too much power": tech giants as "cyber barons" before the US Congress

Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google are heavyweights in the tech industry. US politicians repeatedly accuse companies of exploiting their market position and operating unfairly. Before the US Congress, the CEOs are hit hard.

The heads of the four technology giants Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google resisted the allegation of market dominance and unfair competition at a hearing in the US Congress. There is a lot at stake for the technology companies: the hearing serves to prepare new regulatory measures for the industry. In a question and answer session, the Democrats in the exclusion particularly caught the founders and bosses of Facebook and Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos.

"You have too much power," said David Cicilline, Democratic MP and committee chairman. Whether by favoring their own offerings, abusive pricing or the obligation to purchase additional products – "the dominant platforms have exercised their power in a destructive, harmful way to grow."

Bezos was showered with questions about whether Amazon evaluates data from retailers who sell goods on the Group's platform in order to compete with their own offers. The Amazon boss said there were internal regulations against it, but he could not guarantee that they were never violated.

In the case of Facebook, they focused on the takeover of the Instagram photo platform and the WhatsApp chat service. MP Joseph Neguse got Zuckerberg to say that Instagram and WhatsApp not only complemented the offers of the online network, but were also competitors. This assessment could still be relevant under competition law.

Forbearance with Apple boss?

Apple boss Tim Cook got less tough questions in comparison; They were mainly concerned with whether Apple discriminated against developers of other apps on its download platform and asked them to give too much information.

At the hearing, it quickly became clear that Republicans in Congress will use the time to raise the allegation that online companies were suppressing conservative views. That is what US President Donald Trump repeatedly claims. On Twitter, he threatened to use presidential orders against tech companies if Congress didn't crack down hard enough.

"Put on your mask!"

For example, Google CEO Sundar Pichai was asked by Greg Steube why his campaign emails with his own father ended up in the Gmail recycle bin. MP Jim Jordan asked Pichai for assurances that the Internet company would not help Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The four top managers were connected via video conference to the hearing in the Justice Committee of the House of Representatives. The corona crisis left its mark on the appointment. The CEOs had to make sure that no employees were helping them behind the camera.

MEPs had to wear masks outside of their speaking hours. "Put on your mask!", They were warned several times. From the opening speech by subcommittee chief Cicilline it became clear that the deputies are already very critical of the online companies. "Our founders did not bow to the king, nor should we bow to the emperors of the online economy," said the democratic politician. Democratic MP Jamie Raskin spoke of "cyber barons" based on the "robber barons" – the powerful and ruthless US capitalists from the 19th century.

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