META Meta Platforms Inc

By Ryan Tracy 

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers raised concerns about the market dominance of giant U.S. technology companies at the outset of a hearing with four top tech CEOs, though Democrats appeared more inclined than Republicans to support government action to curb their power.

Amazon.com Inc.'s Jeff Bezos, Apple Inc.'s Tim Cook, Facebook Inc.'s Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent Alphabet Inc. are testifying before the House Antitrust Subcommittee Wednesday. The hearing comes with the companies under investigation by antitrust authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere while also experiencing sky-high valuations amid the coronavirus pandemic.

(Read analysis of the hearings on our live-coverage page).

"Simply put: They have too much power," Rep. David Cicilline (D., R.I.), the subcommittee chairman, said of the companies in a statement opening the hearing. "Their ability to dictate terms, call the shots, upend entire sectors, and inspire fear represent the powers of a private government. Our founders would not bow before a king. Nor should we bow before the emperors of the online economy."

"I share the concern that market dominance in the digital space is ripe for abuse, particularly when it comes to free speech," said Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R., Wis.), the committee's top Republican, alluding to long-held concerns among conservatives that social media companies treat them differently from liberals.

He said Congress needs more information about allegations that the companies abuse their market power, and suggested Republicans would be more skeptical of a crackdown by antitrust authorities: "Being big is not inherently bad. Quite the opposite. In America you should be rewarded for success."

President Trump also weighed in on the topic Wednesday, tweeting "If Congress doesn't bring fairness to Big Tech, which they should have done years ago, I will do it myself with Executive Orders."

The CEOs, in written statements before the hearing, said they face stiff competition that motivates them to keep improving their widely used products.

Mr. Bezos, in his first appearance before Congress, told lawmakers about his parents and his decision to leave a Wall Street job to start Amazon from a Seattle garage.

"The retail market we participate in is extraordinarily large and competitive," he said, addressing broader concerns about Amazon's power. "There is room in retail for multiple winners."

Mr. Zuckerberg said new companies are emerging all the time. "History shows that if we don't keep innovating, someone will replace every company here today," Mr. Zuckerberg said. He added that Facebook faces broad competition, pointing out it competes with Amazon and Google for advertising dollars, and with Apple on private messaging.

Mr. Cook addressed concerns from app developers about excessive fees and self-prefencing on the widely popular App Store.

"If Apple is a gatekeeper, what we have done is open the gate wider," Mr. Cook said. "We want to get every app we can on the store, not keep them off."

Google took the most heat early in the hearing. Mr. Cicilline said the search giant abuses its position as a web gateway, saying it changed "from a turnstile to the rest of the web to a walled garden." He quoted one internal memo that he said showed Google employees discussing how other websites had "too much traffic."

Mr. Pichai said he wasn't familiar with the specific document, but pointed to vigorous competition in online search, such as searches for specific items on travel or retail websites, a sector known as "vertical search."

"When we look at vertical search, it validates the competition that we see," Mr. Pichai said.

Two Republicans criticized Google for abandoning some work with the Pentagon, and repeated concerns among some in the Trump administration about the company's work in China.

"It seems to really call into question your commitment to our country and our values," said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.)

Mr. Pichai said the company doesn't work with the Chinese military. "Compared to our peers it is very, very limited in nature," he said of the company's work in China.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) took on Mr. Zuckerberg, quoting documents of him describing Instagram as a threat before Facebook acquired it in 2012.

"This is exactly the type of anticompetitive acquisition that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent," Mr. Nadler said.

"I think the FTC had all of these documents" when it reviewed the acquisition for compliance with antitrust laws, Mr. Zuckerberg responded, referring to the Federal Trade Commission.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) pressed Apple on whether it treats app developers equally, saying it has dedicated employees and special pricing deals for some large developers. Mr. Cook disagreed: "We treat every developer the same," he said.

Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2020 15:14 ET (19:14 GMT)

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