Zuckerberg could be questioned about breaking competition laws, says report
US regulators may question Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and his right-hand executive to determine if the social networking has broken monopoly laws, according to a Wall Street Journal report Friday.
The Journal cited unnamed persons close to the matter as saying the Federal Trade Commission is considering taking sworn testimony from Zuckerberg and Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg as part of a yearlong probe into if the leading social network has abused its dominance on the market.
The FTC declined to discuss the report.
“We look forward to sharing our views about the competitive landscape, and also other technology leaders, during this month’s Congressional hearing, while also demonstrating for enforcement agencies our innovation provides more selections for consumers,” a Facebook spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry.
Leaders of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are to testify during an antitrust investigation hearing at the US House Committee on the Judiciary on July 27.
The hearing comes against a backdrop of growing complaints about tech platforms that contain dominated key monetary sectors, and calls by some activists and politicians to split up the Silicon Valley giants.
Chief executives Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Tim Cook (Apple), Sundar Pichai (Google), and Zuckerberg can appear nearly if indeed they wish, according to a joint statement released by Judiciary committee chairman Jerrold Nadler and Antitrust subcommittee chairman David Cicilline.
“Since last June, the subcommittee has been investigating the dominance of a little number of digital platforms and the adequacy of existing antitrust laws and enforcement,” Nadler and Cicilline said.
“Given the central role these corporations play in the lives of the American people, it is important that their CEOs are forthcoming.”
Google and Facebook, which account for the majority of digital global advertising revenue, provide free services that have become dominant within their sectors-such as Google’s internet search engine or its subsidiary, video-sharing platform YouTube.
Users’ interactions with these products permit the companies to acquire data profiles and sell targeted advertising space on an enormous scale.
At Apple and Amazon, it really is their sales platforms-the App Store on iPhones and iPads, or Amazon’s e-commerce site-that are in the sights of regulators, because the two companies are both hosts and merchants.
Earlier this year, the united states Justice Department said it was reviewing potential anti-competitive actions by major tech platforms, and attorneys general from the majority of US states have launched antitrust investigations of Google and Facebook.
