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House's tech antitrust hearing tumbles into political whirpool

29 July 2020
Dan Ackermann

Wednesday's House antitrust hearing with the CEOs of Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple got off to a rocky start, as Democrats and Republicans sought to steer it in wildly different directions.

What's happening: Democrats raised concerns of competitive abuses while Republicans slammed the companies for alleged anti-conservative bias.

Why it matters: The face-off is the culmination of a protracted conflict between Washington and Silicon Valley that has seen members of both parties push antitrust enforcement as a cure for any number of Big Tech ills.

What they're saying: As the hearing kicked off, Democratic leaders of the panel hosting the hearing upbraided the companies.

  • "Simply put, they have too much power," said House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline. "This power staves off new forms of competition, creativity, and innovation."
  • All four companies operate platforms that serve as "bottlenecks" for those looking to get apps, content and goods out to people and use their power to surveil rivals and force consumers into their ecosystems, Cicilline maintained.

But Republicans sought to pivot. Ranking antitrust panel member Jim Sensenbrenner celebrated tech companies for their size and power, narrowing his criticism to the bias allegations.

  • Rep. Jim Jordan, top Republican on the full Judiciary panel, greatly ramped up that line of attack, stating flatly, "Big tech is out to get conservatives."

For their part, the CEOs used their opening remarks to describe humble beginnings for their companies and argue that U.S. policies allowed them to flourish.

Go deeper:

This is a developing story. Keep checking back for updates.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.