Tech hearing: Bezos, Zuckerberg, Cook and Pichai grilled by congress as Facebook CEO defends Twitter over Trump Jr ban

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Mark Zuckerberg defends Twitter's decision to suspend Donald Trump Jr account

The four biggest Silicon Valley tech CEOs were grilled by Congress for more than five hours as both Democrats and Republicans accused them of using their monopolies to crush market competitors and censor ideological opponents.

Google's Sundai Pichai, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Time Cook and Amazon's Jeff Bezos faced both pointed accusations and at times confused questioning from Representatives wading into thickets of privacy policies, advertising platforms and data algorithms.

Zuckerberg at one point found himself in the unlikely position of defending Twitter's decision to suspend Donald Trump's Jr's account after his company was confused for that of Jack Dorsey, who was not in attendance.

Bezos, meanwhile, was unable to deny an assertion that Amazon uses third-party seller data to advantage itself, a potential antitrust concern for the e-commerce company, but committed to sharing results of its internal investigation.

Cook defended Apple for removing competitors from the App Store even as customers were directed to Apple's own products as a replacement.

Pichai faced some of the toughest questions over Google's advertising practices, with the company accused of using "privacy" as a shield to withhold user data from competitors that it used itself to claim an advantage.

While Representatives across both political spectrums shared in their level of concerns at the size of the tech companies, Democrats tended to focus on anticompetitive conduct while Republicans leaned toward political censorship.

Zuckerberg was accused of lying to Congress after claiming he wasn't aware of anyone being fired for their political beliefs, while Pichai dodged questions about a 2016 video showing anti-Trump bias among senior leadership.

All of the CEO's, however, agreed that the emergence of cancel culture was a threat to democracy as the nuance destruction machine of social media empowered mobs in the "digital Thunderdome".

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[29 July 2020 18:18 · Andrew Buncombe]

He adds: “Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, these corporations already stood out as titans in our economy. In the wake of Covid. however, they are likely to emerge stronger and more powerful than ever before.”

[29 July 2020 18:24 · Andrew Buncombe]

We just heard from the ranking Republican, Jim Sensenbrenner, who said it was not always the case that "big was bad". Next up, Democrat Jerry Nadler

[29 July 2020 18:26 · Andrew Buncombe]

Republican Jim Jordan claims big tech is "out to get conservatives"

[29 July 2020 18:30 · Andrew Buncombe]

Twitter is "censoring the president", Jordan now claims

[29 July 2020 18:31 · Andrew Buncombe]

First up Jeff Bezos

[29 July 2020 18:37 · Andrew Buncombe]

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos is wearing a dark suit and white shirt, for his first testimony before Congress

[29 July 2020 18:38 · Andrew Buncombe]

"My mom, Jackie, had me when she was a 17-year-old high school student in Albuquerque, New

Mexico. Being pregnant in high school was not popular in Albuquerque in 1964. It was difficult

for her. When they tried to kick her out of school, my grandfather went to bat for her," he says.

[29 July 2020 18:38 · Andrew Buncombe]

"My dad’s name is Miguel. He adopted me when I was four years old. He was 16 when he came

to the United States from Cuba as part of Operation Pedro Pan, shortly after Castro took over.

My dad arrived in America alone. His parents felt he’d be safer here. His mom imagined America

would be cold, so she made him a jacket sewn entirely out of cleaning cloths."

[29 July 2020 18:45 · Andrew Buncombe]

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, says its "work would not be possible without the long tradition of American innovation, and we’re proud to contribute to its future". With a brief claim that Google's marketplace has helped pass on saving to consumers, he adds: "I haven’t forgotten how access to innovation and technology altered the course of my life. Google aims to build products that increase access to opportunity for everyone — no matter where you live, what you believe, or how

much money you earn."

[29 July 2020 18:50 · Andrew Buncombe]

Now, Apple's Tim Cool, who like the other witnesses pays tribute to John Lewis, whose memorial service, held up the hearing. 

Here's his comments in full

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU05/20200729/110883/HHRG-116-JU05-Wstate-CookT-20200729.pdf