Lawmakers grill tech execs from Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple about company practices

Tech executives faced tough questions on Capitol Hill Wednesday about how their companies operate and dominate in the industry.

The heads of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple all testified.

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“They have too much power,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-Rhode Island).

Members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law said they have been interviewing former employees and gathering documents about the four big tech giants over concerns of unfair practices.

“Why does Google steal content from honest businesses?” Cicilline asked Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet Inc., which owns Google.

“With respect, I disagree with that characterization,” said Pichai. “Just last week, I met with many small businesses.”

For the first time ever, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos testified as well.

“Do category managers have access to non-public data about third-party products and businesses?” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) asked Bezos.

“Here’s what I can tell you,” Bezos responded. “We do have certain safeguards in place. We train people on the policy. We expect people to follow that policy like we would any other.”

Lawmakers also grilled the companies about election security and the spread of misinformation on the online platforms.

“We’ve hired more than 30.000 people to work on safety and security,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “We’ve built up AI systems to find harmful content.”

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