Brian Fung | @[email protected]

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

RT @oliverdarcy: Day after Big Tech antitrust hearing on Capitol Hill, @jack weighs in: https://t.co/372UaWf1zr — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

@TonyaJoRiley This is genius — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Had to step away to do some liveblogging and an interview but catching up on Cicilline’s closing remarks. He argued the companies have “monopoly power” and that “some need be broken up; all need to be regulated.” He also compared the four CEOs to Rockefeller and Carnegie. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

I think Jeff Bezos calling social media a “nuance destruction machine” may be the quote everyone will remember coming out of this hearing. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

All you people who had “Mr. _____ you’re on mute” in your drinking game… IT HAPPENED — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Just coming back to this but… I’m again surprised to see Zuckerberg reaching for “we model our political ad policies after FCC broadcaster obligations” as if that will do anything but push people to imagine a Facebook that’s actually FCC-regulated — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

The viral video! — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

We’re entering the final round of questioning, and Cicilline anticipates we’ll be done within the hour. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Rep. Armstrong’s questioning on aggregate data seems small but I think will end up being a big deal. The upshot is that Amazon does use “aggregate data” to benefit its own products, but then describes data as "aggregated" even when it encompasses as few as *two* sellers. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

I think after this is all over I’m going to have to spend a whole day or two rewatching this hearing to really digest it. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

I should add though that while Zuckerberg has been very comfortable engaging with lawmakers so far, the emails that have been introduced could become problems for Facebook down the road. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

As with previous hearings, Cicilline, Jayapal and Neguse have shown themselves to have the strongest grasp of the issues. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

My quick impressions thus far: Bezos has done himself the least favors Cook has gotten off pretty lightly Zuck has received much of the attention but seems the most comfortable Pichai is struggling with how to deflect all the allegations of anti-conservative bias — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Cicilline just approved a third round of questioning so we’ll continue to be here a while. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

Bezos acknowledges that sometimes Amazon does sell its devices “below cost.” — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

GOP lawmakers clearly want the media to cover their claims of anti-conservative bias as equivalent in gravity and stature to allegations of antitrust violations. But while the antitrust issues are accompanied by emails and documents, the GOP’s evidence is largely anecdotal. — PolitiTweet.org

Brian Fung | @[email protected] @b_fung

We’re back to Facebook and Instagram. Instagram has "certainly grown beyond our wildest expectations,” Zuckerberg tells Rep. Neguse. — PolitiTweet.org

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