Hearing to Expose How Big Tech Endangers American Democracy

Aggressive enforcement and regulation must follow soon after Wednesday’s hearing

WASHINGTON— Tomorrow, the chief executives of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple will testify before the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee as part of a yearlong investigation into online platforms and market power. 

Open Markets Institute applauds Rep. David Cicilline for conducting this historic hearing, and urges members of the committee to seize the opportunity to protect American democracy from these dangerous corporations. 

Sally Hubbard, director of enforcement strategy at Open Markets Institute, issues the following statement:

“This hearing serves a critical function in showing that Big Tech is beholden to democratically elected institutions and in airing the platforms’ competition-crushing tactics to the public. 

“Americans need to know that Big Tech obtained dangerous levels of power not by competing purely on the merits, but by illegally crushing their rivals and by manipulating how people communicate and do business with one another. Tomorrow, the public will get the chance to see and hear for themselves the details of Big Tech’s illegal practices. 

“Tomorrow’s hearing must be only the beginning. Congress, antitrust enforcers, and other regulators must bring their full powers to bear against Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple. This investigation must lead to the end of Big Tech’s rampant violations of the antitrust laws, ubiquitous surveillance, bullying of businesses of all sizes, and concentrated control over speech and commerce.”

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