'We have a word for that: monopoly.' Mark Zuckerberg's emails boasting about buying competitors and plotting to buy Instagram because it 'can hurt us meaningfully' are revealed at tech CEO hearing - as conservatives slam giants for 'bias'
- Congressman Joe Neguse revealed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's emails at Wednesday's Judiciary Committee on antitrust laws where he details the company's goal to 'neutralize potential competitors'
- 'We have a word for that – that word is monopoly,' The Democratic representative said
- Zuckerberg, who joined the hearing virtually, said his conversation with a senior Facebook engineer where he mentioned not being able to purchase Google yet was just a 'joke'
- In the email chain, Zuckerberg said he wanted to weed out competitors that could be 'disruptive' to Facebook
- Zuckerberg, as well as Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Google's Sundar Pichai, faced off with lawmakers in a virtual hearing on antitrust laws and competition in the tech space
- Republican Rep. Jim Jordan came out in full force against big tech companies
- 'I'll just cut to the chase, big tech's out to get conservatives,' the Ohio representative alleged
- 'Conservatives are consumers too,' Jim Sensenbrenner, Ranking Member of the Antitrust Subcommittee, said
- President Donald Trump said earlier in the day that he will be 'closely' monitoring the hearing where the four CEOs will argue they compete with each other and others
- 'There's no question that what the big tech companies are doing is very bad,' Trump lamented to reporters on Wednesday
The CEOs of the four biggest tech firms faced Congress as one Wednesday - and came under fire from both sides, accused of running monopolies, trampling small businesses and would-be competitors and censoring conservatives.
Democratic Representative Joe Neguse accused during Wednesday's Judiciary Committee that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a monopoly in the tech marketplace, pointing to his company purchasing or more successfully imitating its competition.
'You did tell one of Facebook's senior engineers in 2012 that you can, quote 'Likely just buy any competitive start up, but it will be a while until we can buy Google.' Do you recall writing that?' Neguse asked of the Facebook co-founder.
'Congressman, I don't specifically, but it sounds like a joke,' Zuckerberg dismissed.
The newly revealed 2012 email chain, Neguse said, came directly after Facebook closed on its purchase of Instagram – one of its biggest competitors at the time.
In the emails, Zuckerberg detailed that his goal is to 'neutralize potential competitors,' especially those that could be 'disruptive' to Facebook.
'Here's why I ask these questions, Mr. Zuckerberg,' Neguse said in closing. 'It strikes me that over the course of the last several years, Facebook has used its market power to either purchase or replicate the competition.'
'And Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram are the most now downloaded apps of the last decade – and your company, sir, owns them all,' the Colorado representative concluded.
'And we have a word for that – that word is monopoly.'
Democratic Representative Joe Neguse accused Facebook of being a 'monopoly' during Wednesday's Judiciary Committee on antitrust laws, pointing to an email where the social media giant's CEO Mark Zuckerberg details the company's goal is to 'neutralize potential competitors'
Zuckerberg, who joined the hearing virtually, said his conversation with a senior Facebook engineer where he mentioned not being able to purchase Google yet was just a 'joke'
Newly revealed emails: Neguse shared the email chain where Zuckerberg said he wanted to weed out competitors that could be 'disruptive' to Facebook
Facebook acquired several social media apps since growing to one of the most popular platforms in the world.
It has also attempted to buy others, like SnapChat.
Zuckerberg was just one of the four CEOs who were called to testify before the Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee – the others were Google's Sundar Pichai, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Apple's Tim Cook.
All were present, virtually, to argue they face stuff competition from each other and other outside rivals.
But the Facebook executive came under some of the most harsh lines of questioning from Democrats over potential antitrust and competition issues and from Republicans over alleged anti-conservative bias.
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Republican lawmakers on the panel tore into big technology firms at the start of Wednesday's House Judiciary Hearing on antitrust laws, claiming the platforms all exhibit anti-conservative bias.
'I'll just cut to the chase, big tech's out to get conservatives. That's not a suspicion, that's not a hunch. That's a fact,' Representative Jim Jordan asserted at the top of his opening remarks.
The Ohio Republican then launched into examples where conservative voices, accounts posts and articles were either silenced or taken down – specifically voicing his concern that these actions have been taken on an election year.
'We're 97 days before an election, and the power – as the previous chairman and ranking member have said – the power these companies have to impact what happens during an election, what American citizens get to see before their voting, is pretty darn important,' he said.
'If it doesn't end, there have to be consequences,' he said of tech companies trying to influence elections and silence conservative voices.
He specifically pointed to Twitter taking censoring President Donald Trump's tweet last month when he asserted he would use 'force' if rioters attempted to establish an autonomous zone outside the White House.
'Former Facebook employees admit Facebook routinely suppressed conservative views,' Jordan said.
He also insisted that excuses from tech companies asserting that post removals from conservatives are 'just a glitch' are bogus.
'If I had a nickel for every time I hear, 'it's just a glitch,' I wouldn't be as wealthy as our witnesses but I'd be doing alright,' Jordan quipped.
Wisconsin Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, the ranking member of the Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Subcommittee, said: 'Conservatives are consumers too, and they need the protection of the antitrust laws.'
Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook and Google's Sundar Pichai virtually appeared for the hearing, and will argue that they face intense competition from each other and from other rivals.
Noticeably absent from the hearing will be Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey – even though he and his platform face some of the most intense criticism from Trump.
Jordan assured that Republicans wanted Dorsey to testify as one of their witnesses at the hearing – but said their request was denied by Democrats who control the Judiciary Committee.
President Donald Trump also railed against tech giants before departing the White House earlier Wednesday morning.
'There's no question that what the big tech companies are doing is very bad,' President Trump told reporters when he was specifically asked about the U.S. potentially banning TikTok.
Swearing In: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook all joined a virtual hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to testify on antitrust and competition within the tech industry
Republican Rep. Jim Jordan came out in full force against big tech companies during the Antitrust subcommittee hearing. 'I'll just cut to the chase, big tech's out to get conservatives,' he said in exposing anti-conservative bias
'Conservatives are consumers too, and they need the protection of the antitrust laws,' Ranking Member of the Antitrust Subcommittee, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, said
Jordan got into a back-and-forth with Chairman David Cicilline after Jordan's request was denied to have a ranking member of another Judiciary subcommittee make remarks ahead of the hearing
'Put on a mask!': Another member of the panel yelled that Jordan stop arguing with Cicilline and put on a mask – which lawmakers are required to do while they are not questioning the witnesses
Zuckerberg asserted during his questioning that Facebook has 'distinguished ourselves as one of the companies that defends freedom of expression the most'
During the first part of the hearing, Bezos' image was never shown full-screen like his fellow witnesses – and eventually the panel had to take a 10 minute break to fix a technical issue
Of the witnesses, Bezos is the only one who has not previously been has to testify before Congress regarding tech issues
google CEO Sundar Pichai also faced questions from conservatives over alleged bias in the search engine
Apple's Tim Cook was not attacked by lawmakers in the same manner that his fellow witnesses were
The president's comments came just two hours before the world's largest tech CEOs joined the virtual hearing House Judiciary Committee regarding potential violations of antitrust laws and competition between tech companies.
'We're going to be watching the hearing today, very closely,' Trump said while his Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin stood over his right shoulder and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows over his left.
Trump is highly critical of technology companies, mainly Twitter and Facebook, claiming they silence and disproportionately censor and show bias against conservative accounts and voices.
'PUT YOUR MASK ON!' REPS SQUABBLE AMID PARTISAN SHOUTING MATCH
Tensions between Jordan and the subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline started early, when the Republican requested unanimous consent
Before yielding back to Cicilline, Jordan requested that his Republican colleague Rep. Mike Johnson, who is the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, be given time to speak.
A Democratic member objected and Cicilline rejected the request for Johnson to speak – which goes against usual precedent observed at subcommittee hearings.
Jordan was not pleased.
'Why are we not allowing – it is customary –' he began, but was cut off by Ciclline.
'This has never happened,' Jordan spoke over the chairman.
'Mr. Jordan, I have the time,' Cicilline shot back as he attempted to introduce the witnesses for the hearing.
'We're talking about people's liberties here,' Jordan argued back, but Ciclline ignored him and continued in the hearing's procedures.
'Put your mask on!' another member could be heard yelling at Jordan.
Members are required to wear masks when they are not questioning witnesses.
The CEO's opening remarks, which were released Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's hearing, portrays four chief executives who are looking over their shoulders at competitors who could render them obsolete.
The testimony before the antitrust panel comes as they investigate how these businesses' practices and data gathering have hurt smaller rivals.
Bezos, in a lengthy 4,600-word statement, highlighted Amazon's contribution to the economy and how it has invested $270 billion in the U.S. over the last decade and created more than 700,000 'indirect' jobs.
'Unless you're speaking put a mask on' Cicilline snaps at Jim Jordan
President Donald Trump also railed against big tech, claiming Wednesday morning he will be watching the hearing 'closely'
'There's no question that what the big tech companies are doing is very bad,' Trump lamented
His statement emphasizes the company's dedication to getting its products to customers - which he says are jobs that cannot be outsourced 'to China or anywhere else'.
'To fulfill our promises to customers in this country, we need American workers to get products to American customers. When customers shop on Amazon, they are helping to create jobs in their local communities,' he says.
He adds that Amazon hired an additional 175,000 employees during the coronavirus pandemic, including many who were laid off from other jobs.
Bezos includes personal information about his life before becoming a billionaire and how he was raised by a teen mother and Cuban immigrant adoptive father.
'It's not a coincidence that Amazon was born in this country,' he says.
'We nurture entrepreneurs and start-ups with stable rule of law, the finest university system in the world, the freedom of democracy, and a deeply accepted culture of risk-taking.'
Zuckerberg also touched on the theme of the American success story, arguing that Facebook grew into a billion-dollar business 'the American way, by starting out with nothing and providing products that people find valuable.
'Although people around the world use our products, Facebook is a proudly American company. We believe in values - democracy, competition, inclusion and free expression - that the American economy was built on,' he says.
He also argues Facebook faces intense competition from large rivals adding: 'We compete against the companies appearing at this hearing, plus many others that sell advertising and connect people. We also compete globally, including against companies that have access to markets that we aren't in.'
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Zuckerberg will also defend Facebook's acquisitions by saying the social-media platform helped companies like WhatsApp and Instagram grow. Both are owned by Facebook.
He plans to remind lawmakers of the competitive threat U.S. tech companies face from China, saying the Asian country is building its 'own version of the internet focused on very different ideas, and they are exporting their vision to other countries.'
The billionaire tech exec also renewed Facebook's call for government regulation in areas such as harmful content in social media, election integrity, and privacy - areas where the company has been criticized.
In his prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing, Pichai argued that search - which Google dominates by most metrics - was broader than just typing a query into Google, and said he remained concerned about being relevant as people turn to Twitter, Pinterest or other websites for information.
'We know Google's continued success is not guaranteed. Google operates in highly competitive and dynamic global markets, in which prices are free or falling, and products are constantly improving,' Pichai said.
Apple's Tim Cook will tell the committee the company 'does not have a dominant market share in any market where we do business. That is not just true for iPhone, it is true for any product category.'
He will argue the company's 'commissions are comparable to or lower than commissions charged by the majority of our competitors. And they are vastly lower than the 50 to 70 percent that software developers paid to distribute their work before we launched the App Store.'
The high-profile hearing was originally set for Monday but was postponed because Representative John Lewis will be lying in state until Wednesday.
The panel will question the companies as part of its sweeping probe into whether they actively work to harm and eliminate smaller rivals, while not always making the best choices for their customers.
It will be a key moment in the growing backlash against Big Tech in the United States and is likely to set up a face-off between the executives and skeptical lawmakers from both parties.
Many tech lobbying groups and industry critics say the hearing is unlikely to address core antitrust issues or bring new information to the table, however.
'There's not much tech CEOs can do to appease anti-tech critics... this hearing is not about finding truth but creating news stories,' said Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel at industry lobby group NetChoice.
The antitrust subcommittee is expected to release a report within weeks on their investigation into the companies.
The U.S. Justice Department is also probing the big four tech platforms. Facebook and Amazon are also facing inquiries by the Federal Trade Commission, while U.S. states attorneys general are looking at Google and Facebook.
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