Tech Giants Testify Before Congress

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Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google CEOs faced lawmakers in an attempt to defend their enormous tech empires.

Yesterday four of the largest tech CEOs in history gathered (virtually, of course) to testify together in front of Congress for the first time.

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook were grilled in an effort to determine whether their companies are a detriment to American society. The hearing conducted by the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust followed a yearlong investigation that covered over a million documents.

Onlookers were keen to determine whether 13 months was long enough for politicians to become technologically literate, as they haven’t exactly measured up in the past. They don’t seem to be quite there yet, as evidenced by Republican congressman Jim Sensenbrenner confusing Facebook and Twitter while pressing Zuckerberg about conservative censorship concerns.

Jeff Bezos was also center-stage, as today was his first time testifying in front of Congress in his 25 years running Amazon.

The four executives strategically placed their cameras in front of neutral backgrounds that provided no hint to their inconceivable wealth. In basic suits and ties, the CEOs continuously defended their market dominance and provided insight for U.S lawmakers to determine the key issue at hand: whether current legislation has enough bandwidth to keep these tech giants in check.

Zuckerberg is no stranger to the spotlight, and his public speaking has thankfully improved over the years. Zuckerberg deflected 46 questions in the Cambridge Analytica hearings back in 2018 and only seven yesterday, which was quite the improvement, especially considering he talked the longest for a total of 54 minutes (Mashable).

When confronted with a difficult question from Florida Republican Greg Steube about whether the Chinese government steals technology from U.S. companies, Zuckerberg was the only exec with a clear answer. The Facebook CEO sufficiently answered questions, handled interruptions by congresspeople and presented himself in a somewhat awkward but appropriate manner.

PERFORMANCE: 8/10

PRESENTATION: 6/10

PREPARATION: 6/10

PR POISE: 7/10

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet and its subsidiary Google, was really put to the test. Pichai was often cut off and tended to sidestep difficult questions with vague answers. According to The New York Times, Pichai was asked 61 questions by lawmakers and avoided directly answering them 13 times, six more than Zuckerberg and 10 more than Bezos and Cook. Pichai relied heavily on the notion that Google is benefitting the U.S by providing jobs and spurring the economy. Despite fiery interruptions, Pichai generally came across slightly overwhelmed yet poised.

PERFORMANCE: 6/10

PRESENTATION: 7/10

PREPARATION: 4/10

PR POISE: 7/10

All eyes were on congressional newbie Jeff Bezos in his first hearing. As the richest person in the world, Bezos faces a lot of scrutiny in his day-to-day life, and yesterday was no different.

In his opening statement, Bezos described his family’s humble beginnings and how he is a byproduct of his father chasing the American dream: “The rest of the world would love even the tiniest sip of the elixir we have here in the U.S.”

Despite not being asked a direct question for nearly the first two hours of the hearing, Bezos did face some tough accusations; some of which he was unable to deny, such as the fact that Amazon uses third-party seller data to its advantage and cuts prices to undermine competitors such as Diapers.com.

During his first hearing “in front” of Congress, Bezos had a few snacks, forgot to “unmute” himself and didn’t have quite a few bits of information pertaining to questions asked of him.

PERFORMANCE: 6/10

PRESENTATION: 7/10

PREPARATION: 6/10

PR POISE: 6/10

Of the four CEOs, Tim Cook got off lightest - speaking for only 23 minutes and 30 seconds. He was asked almost half the amount of questions compared to the others. Being the oldest of the four perhaps played a role, for at one point Cook stated, “I can't see this email; I'm sorry my eyes are not good enough to read it but…” when being questioned about parental control competition.

Cook’s communications strategy was to shift the conversation away from Apple and onto its competition. During his limited time on the hot seat, he avoided certain topics but was quick to respond and remained collected nonetheless.

PERFORMANCE: 6/10

PRESENTATION: 7/10

PREPARATION: 6/10

PR POISE: 7/10

It only seems fair to review the questioners, as they had plenty to say during the course of the five-hour hearing. At one point, the courtroom turned into something of a battleground, as the perennially jacket-less Rep. Jim Jordan was berated for also not wearing a mask during his response to Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon’s suggestion he was pushing "fringe conspiracy theories”.

Overall, the hearing was unfocused and at times off-topic. Members of congress spent a large sum of time on issues such as censorship and partisan biases, while ignoring the main topic of the hearing: anti-competitive practices. This will not have been a problem for the four mega-CEOs, as it enabled them to swerve more in-depth questioning.

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