📚 House Antitrust Chair Says Big Tech Abuses Gatekeeper Power

Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook abuse their power as gatekeepers of the internet, said the head of a House antitrust panel who's poised to propose legislative changes to rein in the technology giants. From a report: "Each platform uses their gatekeeper position to protect their own power," said Representative David Cicilline, who chairs a House antitrust panel that's spent more than a year probing the dominance of the internet platforms. "By controlling the infrastructure of the digital age, they have surveilled other businesses to identify potential rivals -- and ultimately bought out, copied, or cut off their competitive threats." Cicilline, who spoke Thursday during a hearing with experts on competition law, is preparing a final report recommending changes to the legislative and regulatory framework. That report is expected to be released as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg testified voluntarily in July before the subcommittee. Cicilline criticized their testimony as being evasive and non-responsive and said "they raised new questions about whether they believe their companies are beyond oversight."

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