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Google, Facebook, Amazon, & Twitter slam U.S. House antitrust report

Following the report filed by U.S. House Judiciary Committee on an antitrust hearing, major tech platforms fired back at suggestions of anti-monopoly regulation.

TJ Denzer

October 8, 2020 2:41 PM

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There is little doubt that in the world as it is now, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter have a firm hand on their corners of the technology market. The control over various media, social platforms, search engines, and the ongoing visible discourse in our every day lives is an enormous amount of power to have, which is likely a large part in why the U.S. Government subpoenaed the CEOs of these companies for an antitrust hearing. The results of that hearing have since published and the company’s involved were vocally not thrilled.

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee oversaw an antitrust hearing with CEOs of Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter back in July 2020, the results of which were posted on October 6, 2020. The lengthy report included a number of suggestions aimed at regulating mergers, preventing monopolization, promoting structural separation and prohibitions. It, in turn, drew a wealth of criticism from each of the companies. Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Google fielded individual statements, as reported by TechCrunch, all in deep opposition of the suggestions made.

Amazon was perhaps one of the most doom and gloom about the entire situation, claiming in its statement that the kind of regulation the government is talking about would adversely affect online business of any kind.

Facebook, Google, and Apple were no less stern in their replies to the matter, but the former of those three will find themselves under the microscope again soon enough. Facebook, Google, and Twitter have been subpoenaed in another hearing regarding liability law and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

Such as the case, it’s not the last we’ve heard on government involvement in tech giant control. President Donald Trump and incumbent Vice President Joe Biden have both shared concern over the sheer control of major tech over various aspects of society. As we await the next hearing, it also seems as though regulation of big tech could be an ongoing conversation of the next four years in the United States.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.