Source: the rescheduled House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee hearing featuring CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google will take place this Wednesday
The CEOs of Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google will now testify before the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee on Wednesday …
The rescheduling itself is minor; what matters is that the four CEOs now appear together in one room as the probe moves from document collection toward public judgment.
First-order effects
Bezos, Cook, Zuckerberg, and Pichai face direct questioning under oath about their platforms' treatment of rivals, with each company having already signaled it will argue it does not stifle competition rather than contest the hearing itself.
The subcommittee gets its highest-profile evidence session yet for the antitrust report its investigation is building toward, with the four CEOs appearing in a single sitting.
Second-order effects
Each CEO's prepared defenses become the reference point competitors and critics quote back — Apple's App Store terms, Facebook's acquisitions, Amazon's marketplace data practices, and Google's search dominance all get tested in one public forum.
A strong showing by any single CEO raises the bar for the others, since the format invites direct comparison of how each platform justifies its market power.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, joint CEO hearings become a template for legislator scrutiny of concentrated platform markets, moving the US closer to codified competition rules for big tech rather than case-by-case enforcement.
The investigation's final report, fed by this testimony, positions Congress — not just regulators like the FTC or DOJ — as an agenda-setter for future antitrust action against the largest platforms.
The trend: Congressional antitrust oversight of big tech is escalating from staff-level sessions to CEO-level accountability, marking the shift from investigation to potential legislative action.
In case it wasn't clear, Twitter's move was one of stronger leadership moves in history of social media. @jack and team should be praised for it. The 2 CEOs who control YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram don't have to follow suit due to dominance. They testify Wednesday.
Outstanding news. I have to admit I was bothered about the postpone (although fully understood and support reason behind it) so thrilled to have it rescheduled so quickly. These issues are THAT critical. Especially alleged Google and Facebook market abuse. https://www.axios.com/.…
Great explanation why technology must (and will be) regulated. This is already happening. In 2020s the responsibility of smart technology policy is huge. This needs people with versatile skills & knowledge. Where to find them? #GDPR #CCPA https://www.ben-evans.com/... https://twi…
This is a really insightful write-up about the pent up need to regulate technology, and also the complexities and tradeoffs involved. Worth a read. https://www.ben-evans.com/...
On tech and regulation by @benedictevans A borderless Internet + software's zero marginal cost one-size-fit-all nature are in tension with state sovereignty. I'm almost sure Evans not being American explains his alertness tot his point. https://www.ben-evans.com/... https://twitt…
Regulating technology https://www.ben-evans.com/... “[Dominant share] lends itself to a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy: these companies have gained big market shares at the same time as the problems emerged, so that must be the cause of the problem.” // A @benedictevans classi…
Crisp, illuminating read on unpacking the ambiguous phrase “regulating tech” - which encompasses (very often) divergent policies on content moderation, privacy, antitrust, and the works. https://twitter.com/...
A new essay: regulating technology. We regulate lots of things, from food to airlines, and now, we're going to regulate tech. But that means global platforms collide with local regulators, and lots of complexity. This will probably be expensive. https://www.ben-evans.com/...
Increasing regulation will be the new normal in tech. And with it come complexity, tradeoffs, and clashes between conflicting values & jurisdictions. https://www.ben-evans.com/...
Two long articles that pair well: On the future of the internets (Bush was right! More than one): https://stratechery.com/... And on the regulation of tech: https://www.ben-evans.com/... Both are super well written and real eye openers about the shifting tides of change.
@benedictevans wrote a great review of the complexity of tech regulation. I like the maritime law analogy - the web today has nation states battling, pirates raiding, multinationals competing, explorers, slave traders - it's not a simple anti-trust issue https://www.ben-evans.com…