Representatives from Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon will be appearing at a hearing with US House Committee on the Judiciary next week to discuss antitrust issues, according to a reports by Politico and The Washington Post .
All the four tech giants are each sending policy executives to testify before the subcommittee. They include:
- Google’s Director of Economic Policy, Adam Cohen
- Amazon’s Associate General Counsel, Nate Sutton
- Facebook’s Head of Global Policy Development, Matt Perault
- Apple’s Chief Compliance Officer, Kyle Andeer
In a release announcing the hearing, the subcommittee said it would “examine the impact of market power of online platforms on innovation and entrepreneurship.” Experts such as Columbia Law School professor Tim Wu will also be in attendance.
The hearing also comes as another opportunity for lawmakers to discuss about their growing frustration with tech companies, which have until recently been able to largely operate without any meaningful regulation. However, both Democrats and Republicans alike have signaled an appetite to punish big tech firms following a series of high profile scandals — including disinformation campaigns by Russian and Iranian operatives aimed at disrupting the US political process and its elections.
“The era of the wild west in social media is coming to an end,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said during a hearing late last year with Facebook and Twitter. Congress, he said, will have to take action. “Where we go from here is an open question.”
Reuters reports:
Apple and Google did not respond to a request for comment. Amazon spokeswoman Jodi Seth said they will testify but did not share details. Facebook had no immediate comment.
This comes as the House Judiciary Committee is probing competition in digital markets as part of an investigation announced last month, with both Republicans and Democrats expressing concern about the power exercised by several of the world’s most valuable companies.
The executive branch has antitrust probes underway with the Justice Department looking at Google and Apple while the FTC probes Facebook and Amazon.