Thread by @TTP_updates

Hearing from @HouseJudiciary on Big Tech anti-trust starts NOW! Follow @TTP_updates for live tweets

judiciary.house.gov/calendar/event…

.@RepCicilline's opening address cites how big tech has helped push "dangerous so called miracle cures"

TTP's April report found that Google was paying creators of misleading coronavirus videos on YouTube

techtransparencyproject.org/articles/googl…

.@RepCicilline: Google shows most profitable results - whether ads or their own sites

Sundar Pichai "A vast majority of queries in google we don't show ads at all... where the search is highly commercial"

Zuckerberg: "Our goal is to offer a platform for all ideas... we do have Community Standards... they ban categories of harm such as promoting terrorist propaganda, child exploitation, incitement of violence... and things like hate speech."

"Facebook... saw instagram as a threat that could potentially siphon business away from Facebook and so rather than compete with it, Facebook bought it. This was exactly the type of activity that the anti-trust bill was meant to prevent." @RepJerryNadler

Sundar Pichai in response to @RepMattGaetz on working with police: "We have a long history of following the law and cooperating with law enforcement... we are committed to continuing to work with law enforcement in a way that is consistent with law and due processes in the US"

.@RepMattGaetz: "Google has an AI China Center... you collaborate with Chinese universities... Peter Theil who actually serves on Mr. Zuckerberg's board on Facebook said that 'Google's activities in China are treasonous,' he accused you of treason."

Pichai responds: "We are not working with the Chinese military... We have clarified what we do in China compared to our peers, it's very very limited in nature"

.@RepRaskin "Is there nothing that can be done about the use of Facebook to engender social division in America?"

.@RepRaskin "the #StopHateForProfit campaign... is targeting Facebook right now for... bec of the rapid spread of hate messages online, the presence of boogaloo and other right wing extremist groups... and the fact that alt right, racist, and antisemitic content flourishes on FB"

Zuck: "we're very focused on fighting against hate speech & our commitments to those issues & fighting them go back years before this recent movement...since 2016 the defenses that the company has built up...are some of the most advanced that any co or gov has in the world"

Zuck: "In terms of fighting hate we have built really sophisticated systems. Our goal is to identify it before anyone sees it on the platform and have tens of thousands of people working on safety and security."

.@RepJayapal "Does Amazon ever access or use third party seller data when making decisions?"

Bezos: "We have a policy against using seller-specific data to aid our private label business but I can't guarantee you that that policy has ever been violated."

.@RepJayapal cites the April report by @DanaMattioli that unmasked Amazon's use of non-public data about third party product data and businesses

wsj.com/articles/amazo…

.@RepJayapal "So it's voluntary and there's no actual enforcement of that policy?"

Bezos: "I misspoke - the fact that we have such a policy is voluntary, no other retailer even has such a policy... if we found someone violated we would take action against them."

.@RepJayapal: "You have access to data that far exceeds the sellers on your platforms with whom you compete. You contract consumer habits, interest, even what consumers clicked on but then didn't buy... you dictate the participation of 3rd party sellers on your platform."

.@RepMGS cites 2010 Amazon emails that proposed cutting diaper prices (a loss of $200+ mil in one month alone in diaper profit) to undermine diapers.com, their biggest diaper competitor. Then, after eliminating their competition, Amazon increased their diaper prices.

.@RepJoeNeguse: Lays out Facebook's acquisition of competitors Instagram and WhatsApp and cites email from Zuckerberg "it will be a while before we can buy google"

.@RepCicilline Amazon repeatedly says that they are only focused on doing what’s best for the customer and third party sellers, "but how is that possible when you compete directly with third party sellers with your own products that under cut the competition?... "

"...Isn’t it an inherent conflict of interest for Amazon to produce and sell products on its platform that compete directly with third party sellers, particularly when you, Amazon, set the rules of the game?" @RepCicilline

@repvaldemings: "During discussions of changing Facebook’s platform policy in 2012, [Mark Zuckerberg] said, ‘in any model, I am assuming we enforce our policies against competitors much more strongly.’ It sounds like Facebook weaponizes its policies to target competitors."