Brian Fung | @[email protected]

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Imagine how hard Bezos must have pushed his subordinates to get to the bottom of the seller-data report *before* the hearing — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Bezos says Amazon does have a policy prohibiting the use of third-party seller data to advantage its own products, but admits he can’t guarantee that it has never been violated. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

We’re starting to get into non-antitrust topics with the questioning over Project Maven and Cambridge Analytica — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@cwarzel @TimHerrera Also, former antitrust officials have said that these types of hearings play an important role in pressuring regulatory agencies to be aggressive in their own investigations. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@cwarzel @TimHerrera What likely happened is that the CEOs all insisted on appearing together to avoid precisely the format that would’ve allowed a deep Q&A — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Zuck points out that the FTC voted not to oppose the Instagram acquisition in 2012 … but 1) that was a different FTC then and 2) the FTC now is actively reviewing completed tech mergers and could still arrive at a different conclusion. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Just catching up on Twitter but I find it really hard to believe that Sundar doesn’t know the specifics surrounding the allegations about Yelp et al. Yelp has been arguing against Google for *years* on these issues. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Zuckerberg lists a bunch of companies that he says competes with Facebook, including Amazon, TikTok etc. "If we don’t keep innovating, somebody will replace each company here today." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Tim Cook is arguing that Apple doesn’t have dominant marketshare in any of the business segments in which it competes. (That isn’t really the antitrust argument its critics have leveled at the company, though.) — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

I’ve heard Bezos speak before and it might just be the conferencing software but I don’t remember him sounding like this in the past. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Rep. Jordan is setting the tone for this hearing from the Republican side, saying he’ll “cut to the chase — Big Tech’s out to get conservatives,” firing off a series of anecdotal complaints of tech’s anti-conservative bias. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Cicilline: "Because concentrated economic power also leads to concentrated political power, this investigation also goes to the heart of whether we as a people govern ourselves, or whether we let ourselves be governed by private monopolies." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

And here we go. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

According to the opening statement, Cicilline worries that the pandemic will further entrench the dominance of these platforms: “As hard as it is to believe, it is possible that our economy will emerge from this crisis even more concentrated and consolidated than before." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

As we wait for the hearing to start, we’ve gotten a copy of subcommittee chair David Cicilline’s opening remarks. He’s expected to argue that Americans are “stuck with bad options” and to describe the tech companies as "emperors of the online economy.” — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Man, I wouldn’t have wolfed down my lunch so quickly — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Committee confirms to me that the antitrust hearing start time has been pushed back to 1 p.m. Eastern. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @sarahfrier: The tech hearing is delayed about an hour to allow time to clean the room between hearings, @business is hearing — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

I’ll play your antitrust drinking game, but I’ll only be drinking water ‘cause it’s hot AF out here by the TV cams — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

If you’re looking for the livestream for today’s antitrust hearing, you’ll find it here, along with links to the CEOs’ prepared testimony: https://t.co/aogkgAVsxS — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

I think it’s the other way around Seth — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

A key point to remember in this hearing: Antitrust is fundamentally about competition. Whether a tech company has done good in the world is not the same as whether it has harmed competition. The CEOs will want to focus on the former; lawmakers will want answers on the latter. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @loriamontgomery: NEWS => Beginning immediately, The Washington Post will uppercase the B in Black to identify the many groups that make… — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Meanwhile Trump said they’ll be watching today’s antitrust hearing very closely — "no question that what the big tech companies are doing is very bad,” without specifying what conduct he’s referring to. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Mnuchin confirmed to reporters at the WH this morning that TikTok is under CFIUS review, and that “we’ll be making a recommendation to the president. We have lots of alternatives." — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Overheard on Slack: "yeah I guess if you can summarize antitrust law in 3 grafs lol" — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Relatedly, Reuters reports TikTok expects to make $1 billion in revenues in 2020 and as much as $6 billion next year — and that private investors have made a takeover bid valuing the company at $50 billion: https://t.co/ITFgOo6kpC — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

TikTok’s CEO argues that “without TikTok, American advertisers would again be left with few choices. Competition would dry up and so too will an outlet for America's creative energy.” https://t.co/DWgJp12Sdn — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

NEW: TikTok is going after Facebook this morning ahead of that big House antitrust hearing — accusing it of “maligning attacks … disguised as patriotism” designed to stoke China fears and push TikTok out of the US: https://t.co/DWgJp12Sdn — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Zuckerberg’s testimony, which I referenced earlier based on a copy we obtained, is public now, too. Here’s the link: https://t.co/X99HI8uxzh — PolitiTweet.org