He affirms his rebuff to critics who call for the
company to be broken up: Walmart is more than
twice Amazon’s size, he says.
Bezos initially declined to testify unless he
could appear with the other CEOs. He’ll likely
face questioning over a Wall Street Journal
report that found Amazon employees used
confidential data collected from sellers on its
online marketplace to develop competing
products. At a previous hearing, an Amazon
executive denied such accusations.
In the wake of George Floyd’s death and
protests against racial injustice, Facebook’s
handling of hate speech has recently drawn
more fire than issues of competition and
privacy, especially after Facebook’s refusal to
take action on inflammatory Trump posts
that spread misinformation about voting by
mail and, critics said, encouraged violence
against protesters.
Zuckerberg has said the company aims to allow
as much free expression as possible unless
it causes imminent risk of specific harms or
damage. “We believe in values — democracy,
competition, inclusion and free expression —
that the American economy was built on,” he
says in his testimony prepared for the hearing.
“I understand that people have concerns
about the size and perceived power that tech
companies have,” Zuckerberg’s statement says.
“Ultimately, I believe companies shouldn’t be
making so many judgments about important
issues like harmful content, privacy and election
integrity on their own. That’s why I’ve called
for a more active role for governments and
regulators, and updated rules for the internet.”