Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on October 02, 2019.
Elif Ozturk | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The highly anticipated antitrust hearing featuring CEOs from Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google has officially been postponed by the House Judiciary Committee. A new date has not been announced.
The hearing was initially set to take place on Monday, but is now delayed due to memorial services for the late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., which are scheduled to take place on the same day.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent Alphabet, were prepared to testify virtually on Monday before the House Antitrust Subcommittee. The hearing is meant to be a culmination of an investigation into the four tech giants that began in June 2019 to assess their competitive practices and the efficacy of antitrust laws for the new digital marketplace. Following the hearing, the subcommittee is expected to issue a report of its findings as well as legislative proposals aiming to update the antitrust laws.
The probe had already been delayed by the pandemic, pushing back the timeline for issuing the report from early April to likely sometime in the Fall.
While Congress’ investigation won’t directly result in any enforcement actions on the companies, probes by U.S. antitrust regulators, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, could. The DOJ is reportedly preparing a case against Google while the FTC continues to investigate Facebook and Amazon, according to reports. Regulators have also been asking questions about Apple, though formal scrutiny has so far only been announces in the abroad. The company is facing two antitrust investigations in the European Union.
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