Thread by @jacknicas

The Big Tobacco vs. Big Tech hearings.

Here they are swearing in -- it's own sort of iconic image.

Here's @Kellen_Browning on Webex's big moment: nytimes.com/live/2020/07/2…

Tim Cook argues Apple is not dominant in any market, and that it has been great for consumers and app developers.

On criticism of how Apple handles the App Store: "If Apple is a gatekeeper, what we've done is open the gate wider."

Here's his statement: docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU…

As you listen to the CEOs' defenses of their companies, here are the things they're not saying in their arguments: nytimes.com/2020/07/29/tec…

This hearing is what we expected:

Democratic lawmakers, armed with documents, needle the CEOs about specific business practices they see as anticompetitive.

Republican lawmakers focus on the tech companies' alleged bias against conservatives.

The CEOs mostly dodge it all.

This is great. @Kellen_Browning is tallying the CEOs' buzzwords today... Follow along here:
nytimes.com/live/2020/07/2…

Zuckerberg was just pressed on fake accounts on Facebook and Instagram, which are behind election interference and widespread scams -- an issue that I've written a lot about.

Zuckerberg said that Facebook takes down billions of accounts a year. Here's his full response:

Here's what he's not saying:

Despite those billions of accounts blocked by Facebook, the company has quietly disclosed for years that it still believes 5% of its users are fake -- and that number hasn't budged.

It raises a crucial question:
nytimes.com/2019/01/30/tec…

Three hours into the Big Tech hearing, Apple's @tim_cook has received one direct line of questioning.

Congress received 1.3 million documents from the tech companies. Here's @MikeIsaac on some of the Facebook docs that have come out so far:
nytimes.com/live/2020/07/2…

The Big Tech hearing is in recess after more than three hours of statements and questions. Here's a wrap-up of what's happened so far: nytimes.com/live/2020/07/2…

House lawmakers tried to show that part of Tim Cook's opening statement -- that Apple treats all app developers the same -- isn't true.

Here's their evidence and what happened in the hearing:
nytimes.com/live/2020/07/2…

.@RepValDemings just questioned Tim Cook about our reporting on Apple's moves to remove parental-control apps shortly after it introduced its own competing tool.

Here's our story from last year: nytimes.com/2019/04/27/tec…

Here is the exchange between @RepValDemings and Tim Cook.

Cook says there are about 30 parental-control apps now available on iPhones. This is in large part because Apple reversed its policy on the apps after our reporting.

Here's the view from one of the developers of those parental-control apps:

https://twitter.com/JP_Payeur/status/1288583631586201600?s=20

Rep. @lucymcbath is hitting on the parental-control apps again. Tim Cook said Apple removed them because of privacy concerns.

@lucymcbath asked why then Apple allowed the apps back onto iPhones six months later, without significant changes, following criticism.

Here's Rep. @lucymcbath questioning Tim Cook about our reporting on Apple's removal of parental-control apps shortly after Apple released a competing tool.

Apple says it removed the apps because of privacy concerns.

Here's the document Tim Cook couldn't see.

It appears to show Phil Schiller, a top Apple executive, telling a parent concerned about Apple's removal of a parental-control app they used that they could now use Apple's parental-control tool instead.

The CEOs of Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon were just asked if they believe China steals technology from U.S. firms.

Cook: We haven't experienced it.
Pichai: Neither have we.
Zuckerberg: Yes, absolutely.
Bezos: I've read that.

Tim Cook was just asked about our story yesterday on Apple demanding a 30% cut from Airbnb & ClassPass after they moved to selling virtual classes because of the pandemic.

@RepJerryNadler asked: Isn't this pandemic profiteering?

nytimes.com/2020/07/28/tec…

Tim Cook said that the move to virtual services meant the apps were subject to Apple's fee. "But in both of the cases where I'm aware of, we are working with the developer."

Our sources: ClassPass was told it must comply this month. Airbnb is still negotiating with Apple.

Sundar Pichai of Google just updated his answer: China hacked us in 2009 and took some of our code.

That's a wrap.

@RepCicilline closed by quoting the former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis:

"We must make our choice: We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few. But we can't have both."

If you missed the hearing today (bless your soul), we watched it for you and put all the most interesting stuff here: nytimes.com/live/2020/07/2…

In the hearing’s first several hours, Apple’s Tim Cook was largely ignored. In the last hour, he found himself on the defense.

Here are the questions Cook faced and how he responded: nytimes.com/live/2020/07/2…