The Antitrust Sub-Committee ("Sub-committee") of the
The hearings have been compared with the 1994 'Big Tobbaco' hearing, where CEOs of US tobacco companies had controversially testified before a Sub-
Key highlights of the hearing:
- On
Amazon's relationship with third-party sellers - Many instances ofAmazon competing with third-party sellers on its platform were brought forth by the Sub-Committee. It was alleged thatAmazon "undercuts the prices set by sellers" in order to promote its own products on its platform.Jeff Bezos stated thatAmazon has helped many third-party sellers to grow over the years, he denied the use of such practices byAmazon . - On acquisition of start-ups - Allegedly,
Mark Zuckerberg designed a policy to acquire competitor companies and new entrants in the market by: (i) launching a rival product, and (ii) threatening them of "consequences" if they refused to be acquired byFacebook .Facebook 's acquisition of Instagram in 2012 was put under scanner. The Sub-Committee noted that instead of competing with Instagram,Facebook decided to acquire it. Zuckerberg stated that Instagram outperformed its potential, and achieved significant growth after partnering withFacebook . - On
Google 's advertisement business - It was alleged thatGoogle enjoys a monopoly in the online ad space.Sundar Pichai agreed thatGoogle made most of its revenue through advertising. It was alleged thatGoogle had a 50-60% share in the ad-exchange market; and that Google controlled all entities relating to an ad-exchange. A member of the Sub-Committee stated thatGoogle has been "running the (ad) marketplace, it's acting on the buy side, and it's acting on the sell side at the same time" which was a major conflict of interest. Allegedly, this allowsGoogle to set extremely low ad rates, and this deprives newspapers and independent journalist of their ad revenue.Sundar Pichai stated thatGoogle has been deeply committed to journalism and that it pays out 69% of its revenue to publishers. - On
Apple 's App Store - the Sub-Committee alleged thatApple gave preferential treatment to certain app developers by charging lesser commissions from them.Tim Cook denied the allegation, however, he agreed to the mandatory use of 'Apple Pay' for app listings on theApp Store . Members of the Sub-Committee stated that the app developers are given 'take-it or leave-it' options byApple , which is detrimental to the developer's interests. - On Google Search - It was alleged that several online businesses have accused
Google of stealing content and benefitting from the stolen content.Sundar Pichai responded by stating thatGoogle has been a supporter of small businesses and supports 1.4 million small businesses supporting over $ 385 billion in economic activity. The Chairperson of the Committee stated thatGoogle claims to filter results as per "relevance", however it shows whatever is most profitable forGoogle , viaGoogle ads orGoogle 's own websites.Sundar Pichai stated thatGoogle focuses on providing users the most relevant information according to users' preferences. The Chairperson also alleged thatGoogle used surveillance to identify its competitors, and ranked them down in search results.Sundar Pichai stated thatGoogle understands trends from data, and it uses search data to improve user experience, he maintained that Google works according to user preferences. - On Facebook's 'fact-check' - Members of the sub-committee stated that platforms should not become "arbiters of truth".
Facebook 's take-down of information relating to COVID-19 treatment claims was questioned. Zuckerberg stated thatFacebook has adopted flexible community standards, and it endeavours to stop the spread of misinformation through its platform. He also stated thatFacebook has engaged independent fact checking agencies and has created its own team to curb misinformation. - On
Google 's presence inChina - It was alleged thatGoogle was aiding Chinese propaganda through its AI centre inChina , and by collaborating with various Chinese universities.Sundar Pichai responded by stating thatGoogle has a "limited presence" inChina , and that it does not offer its primary products like Maps, Gmail, etc. to the Chinese market. The conservatives in the Sub-Committee came down heavily uponGoogle opting out of 'Project Maven' aU.S. defence project to integrate AI and defence operations. Pichai stated thatGoogle has not been aiding the Chinese in any manner. Its decision to opt-out from Project Maven was based on ethical considerations. - On
Amazon's use of third-party seller data -Jeff Bezos admitted thatAmazon has a policy that prohibits the use of third-party seller data for supporting its own products. However, he acknowledged that the policy may have been violated in the past. The members of the Sub-Committee stated that this was unfair to third-party sellers as they do not have access toAmazon's data.
About the sub-committee:
The Sub-Committee has been investigating the conduct of the GAFA Companies for more than a year. The Sub-Committee consists of 15 members of the
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