Lets start with the ending.
Some need to be broken up, all need to be properly regulated and held accountable.
We need to ensure the antitrust laws first written more than a century ago work in the digital age.
The hearing opened with a statement from Chairman Cicilline as well.
It was at this point we noticed he was wearing an Apple watch.
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His main point: It is possible these companies will emerge from this crisis even more consolidated than before.
Due to the pandemic, Congresspersons were required to wear masks unless they had the floor.
This would become a point of annoyance for Representative Jim Jordan of the GOP throughout the proceedings.
Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner spoke up next.
Did you know heowns some $98,000 in stocks of the four companiesrepresented by their CEOs at the hearing?
Nadler went on to make the comparison between big tech founders and robber barons of the rail industry.
And then Jim Jordan got his five minutes.
Instead, he decided the proceedings should revolve around conspiracy theories.
He began with:
Ill just cut to the chase, big techs out to get conservatives.
Thats not a suspicion, thats not a hunch, thats a fact.
And then it was time for questions.
Here well list the most interesting exchanges and moments throughout the entirety of the event.
Pichai: Weve always focused on providing users with the most relevant content.
We show ads for only a small subset of queries.
Pichai: Were really focused on improving our products.
Zuckerberg: Our goal is to offer a platform for all ideas.
We do not take down discussions around trials of drugs or people who say they think something will work.
Sensenbrenner: Wouldnt that be up to someone else to say… heres what the facts are?
That could cause imminent risk of harm.
Nadler: What did you mean when you [previous to purchasing it] described Instagram as a threat?
Nadler: Merger and acquisitions that buy off potential competitors to neutralize competitors is against antitrust laws.
Then it was time for Congressman Ken Buck who began with a message on how capitalism makes America great.
He went on to echo other Republicans by saying, I do not believe big is necessarily bad.
Pichai: Congressman, I want to be able to address the important concerns you raised.
And with respect to music, we license content there.
In fact we license content from other companies.
So this is a dispute between Genius and other companies.
Johnson: Apple is the sole decision maker as to whether an app is made available to Apple users.
Cook: We treat every developer the same, we have open and transparent rules.
Johnson: Some developers are favored over others, isnt that correct?
Cook: That is not correct.
Then came Matt Gaetz, the Republican from Florida.
As you’ve got the option to guess, his concerns were on everything but antitrust concerns.
Pichai: We are deeply committed to supporting the military and the US government.
We do take our employees input into account.
Gaetz: I understand the history, Im asking about the future.
Gaetz: Then why are you working with the Chinese military?
Pichai:We are not working with the Chinese military, its absolutely false.
Congressman Jamie Raskin took the floor next.
Zuckerberg: Since 2016 there have been a lot of steps weve taken to protect the integrity of elections.
Weve hired more than 30,000 people to work on safety and security.
Instead he grilled Pichai about privacy concerns related to the police use of location data.
Jayapal: Does Amazon ever access and use third-party seller data when making business decisions?
Bezos: I cant answer that question yes or no.
But I cant guarantee you that that policy has never been violated.
Jayapal: Do category managers have access to non-public data about 3rdparty businesses?
Pichai: We approach our work with a deep sense of responsibility in a non-partisan way… Pichai: Theres nothing in the algorithm that has anything to do with political ideology.
Pichai: You know, we support work that campaigns do.
We wont do any work to tilt things one way or another, its against our core values.
Well continue to conduct ourselves in a neutral way.
This caused a bit of a hissy fit from Jordan.
He once again had to be yelled at to put his mask back on and cede the floor.Tsk tsk.
And the customers were talking about were hard-working families, single parents with babies and young children.
How much money was Amazon willing to lose in this campaign against Diapers.com?
Mr. Bezos, did you personally sign off on the plan to raise prices after Amazon eliminated its competition?
Bezos: I dont remember that at all.
What I remember is that we match competitor prices.
I believe we followed Diapers.com.
Bezos: Well, I dont agree, with great respect, I dont agree with the premise.
At this point in the hearing, things got a little dull.
Jayapal, to Zuckerberg: Do you copy your competitors?
Jayapal: Facebook was developing a product similar to Instagram prior to its acquisition… is that correct?
Jayapal: Did you ever use this very similar Facebook Camera product to threaten Instagrams founder, Kevin Systrom?
Zuckerberg: Im not sure what you would mean by threaten.
I think it was public that we were building a camera app at the time.
That was a well-documented thing.
Were there any other companies that you used this same tactic with?
Zuckerberg: I want to respectfully disagree with your interpretation.
Youve used Facebooks power to threaten smaller competitors, and to ensure that you always get your way.
All four did so without hesitation.
Bezos responded by pointing out that he wants to get other smart assistants on Echo devices.
Stuebe: How can doctors giving their opinion on… COVID-19.. violate YouTubes guidelines?
and whether Amazon engages in making knock-offs itself.
Normalcy wouldnt last, because Jim Jordan returned and immediately gave his time to Congressman Gaetz.
Gaetz is all in on the alleged video evidence showing Facebooks bias against Conservatives.
Check it out for yourself here on Project Veritasown website.
Gaetzto Zuckerberg: The culture you lead within Facebook is one that disadvantages Conservatives and leads to content manipulation.
Then Gaetz basically breaksPalmer Luckeys NDAwith Facebook by asking Zuckerberg why he fired Luckey.
Zuckerberg didnt answer, saying it wasnt appropriate to discuss in public.
This was a weird moment where it appeared Gaetz was trying to pull off a gotcha.
Chairman Cicille decided it was time to talk about public safety and harmful content.
Zuckerberg: I certainly do.
And I actually think that our policies go further than just limiting those types of those things.
Cicille: You agree you have a responsibility to remove harmful lies from your platform, correct?
Zuckerberg: I think we have a responsibility to limit the spread of content that may be harmful.
Zuckerberg: I dont think so.
I think we have, on COVID information in particular, a relatively good track record.
Then, ugh, it was Gaetz again.
Mr Stuebe makes another appearance to ask all four CEOs if they think China steals from US companies.
Zuckerbergs response, in context, made me laugh.
Stuebe: Do you believe that the Chinese government steals technology from US companies?
Pichai: I have no first-hand knowledge of any information stolen from Google.
Zuckerberg: I think its well-documented that the Chinese government steals technology from American companies.
Bezos:I have heard many reports of it.
And then, I kid you not, Stuebe yielded the floor to Gaetzagain.
Gaetz, to Zuckerberg: What is a digital land grab?
Yes, you read that right.
Gaetz asked a question related to antitrust.
Zuckerberg gave a non-answer, but let the record show that it happened.
It wouldnt last long.
Two speakers later andGaetz gets yet another turn.
Gaetz, to Jeff Bezos: You dont believe Dr. Ben Carson is an extremist do you?
Bezos: No Sir, I dont.
Pichai responds the same way.
The next interesting portion of the hearing wouldnt come until Jim Jordan spoke again a few congresspersons later.
He cited Drew Brees and James Harden, two athletes whod been criticizedby fans over recent statements theyd made.
These men were not canceled, they remain millionaire athletes with legions of adoring fans.
McBath: Are stolen goods sold on Amazon?
Bezos: Not to the best of my knowledge.
Theres over a million sellers on Amazon so Im sure that it has happened.
