Heads of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple defend practices
against lawmaker accusations
By Ryan Tracy
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (July 30, 2020).
WASHINGTON -- The chief executives of Amazon.com Inc., Facebook
Inc., Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google faced relentless
criticism at a congressional hearing Wednesday, with Democrats and
Republicans alike challenging their business practices over more
than five contentious hours.
The session, conducted via videoconference because of the
coronavirus pandemic, laid bare deep-rooted frustration with some
of the country's most successful companies, at a moment when
Americans rely on them more than ever.
It also highlighted the threat to the companies from ongoing
investigations by antitrust authorities, with lawmakers citing
internal company emails and witness interviews as evidence that the
platforms improperly abuse their dominant position.
The tone of the questions, directed at Amazon's Jeff Bezos,
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook and Google's Sundar
Pichai, was almost universally hostile. Rep. David Cicilline (D.,
R.I.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust
subcommittee, kicked off the hearing by declaring: "Our founders
would not bow before a king. Nor should we bow before the emperors
of the online economy."
The executives defended their companies' practices and said that
they face stiff competition that forces them to serve customers and
innovate.
Lawmakers whipsawed between topics, from how the companies
moderate social media posts to the tactics they used to gain
sizable positions in markets from digital advertising to
e-commerce. The CEOs had sought to testify jointly, an approach
that made it harder for the interrogators to sustain pressure on
any one witness.
Mr. Zuckerberg faced a series of questions about Facebook's
acquisition strategy. Mr. Pichai defended Google from a litany of
accusations, ranging from taking advantage of its dominant online
search engine to its work in China.
Lawmakers in both parties accused Mr. Bezos of presiding over
bullying of independent sellers on the Amazon marketplace, citing
reports in The Wall Street Journal that employees had used seller
data to launch competing products.
Apple got fewer questions than the other companies, with Mr.
Cook defending its policies on its App Store.
Republicans appeared more skeptical of an antitrust crackdown,
with the top GOP member of the subcommittee, Rep. James
Sensenbrenner (R., Wis.), saying he wouldn't support a change in
competition laws to deal with large tech platforms.
"In America you should be rewarded for success," he said.
GOP lawmakers directed a series of questions at Google, and to a
lesser extent Facebook, for a perceived mistreatment of
conservatives on social media. "Big tech is out to get
conservatives," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio). "If it doesn't
end, there have to be consequences."
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 rejected the accusations, saying they strive to remain
politically neutral and focus on serving consumers, not denying
access to rivals.
Mr. Bezos, in his first appearance before Congress, told
lawmakers about how his mother became pregnant with him when she
was in high school and how he was adopted at 4 years old by his
Cuban immigrant father. Mr. Bezos also talked about 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."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), who has Amazon's headquarters
in her district, asked Mr. Bezos whether Amazon employees violated
an internal policy against accessing data from independent
sellers.
"I can't guarantee you that this policy has never been
violated," Mr. Bezos said. He said Amazon wants third-party sellers
to succeed and benefits when consumers have more options.
After Rep. Lucy McBath (D., Ga.) played an audio recording of an
Amazon seller who said her business nosedived after an action by
Amazon, Mr. Bezos said: "I'm surprised by that. It's not the
systematic approach that we take, I can assure you."
House Judiciary Committee 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.
"Instagram can hurt us meaningfully, " Mr. Zuckerberg wrote in one
of the emails.
"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
shot back, referring to the Federal Trade Commission. Some FTC
officials in 2012 thought the deal raised antitrust concerns, but
they worried they might not win an antitrust case in court if they
sued to block the deal, the Journal reported last year.
Mr. Zuckerberg defended Facebook's efforts to regulate false
information on its platform, denying that the company has a
dominant market position or profits from misleading viral content.
He said new competitors are emerging all the time. "History shows
that if we don't keep innovating, someone will replace every
company here today," he said.
Mr. Cicilline accused Google of abusing 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 he pointed to 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," he said.
Several 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.
Apple got fewer questions about China, despite its large
presence there. Rep. Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) questioned Mr. Cook
about whether Apple treats app developers equally, echoing
complaints from app developers about Apple's market power. He cited
Apple's moves to take a lower cut of some App Store sales from
Amazon and to allow China's Baidu Inc. to fast-track app
approval.
Mr. Cook stood by Apple's defense that it treats every developer
the same and cited the opportunity provided by the App Store's
growth. "If Apple is a gatekeeper, what we have done is open the
gate wider," Mr. Cook said. He acknowledged that he didn't know
about the Baidu situation and said, regarding Amazon, that lower
rates are available to "anyone meeting the conditions."
The hearing was marked by lawmakers interrupting witnesses
before they finished their responses. Mr. Bezos' video feed went
out early in the session, causing Mr. Cicilline to call a recess.
At the outset, instead of asking the witnesses to stand and swear
to tell the truth, Mr. Cicilline had a different request: "Unmute
your microphones and raise your right hands."
--John D. McKinnon, Tripp Mickle and Brent Kendall contributed
to this article.
Write to Ryan Tracy at ryan.tracy@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 30, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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