GOP Leader Demands Twitter CEO Testify In Antitrust Probe

U.S. House Republicans want to add Twitter’s CEO to the roster of Big Tech execs scheduled to testify later this month before a congressional antitrust panel.

GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, said in a letter, “there is bipartisan interest to hear from Twitter about its power in the marketplace, its role in moderating content on its platform, and the causes for its recent highly publicized security breaches.”

The letter was addressed to Democratic U.S. Rep. Jerrold L. Nadler, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Jordan insisted that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey should appear on July 27. That’s in addition to the existing antitrust lineup: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Apple’s Tim Cook. All are set to appear before the Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel.

All four companies are also being looked into by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

The House hearing is part of an investigation into the tech giants. The outcome of that investigation is expected to produce legislation that would reform and regulate the online world.

Jordan’s letter to Nadler said, “I write to notify you that we are calling Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, to testify at this hearing and we expect that you will transmit an invitation to him promptly.” As justification, he said, that as Congress “considers large technology companies and the competitive landscape, a thorough examination cannot exclude Twitter, a market leader in social media. The upcoming hearing represents a significant and unique opportunity to explore these issues with respect to Twitter.”

The concern has long been that each of the four Big Tech firms have used their position to squeeze out competition and dominate the market.

U.S. Rep. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, chairman of the House antitrust panel, has said there is not enough competition in the U.S. tech scene and he wants to change that.

This would be the first time all four Big Tech CEOs have testified together before Congress, although all of them except Bezos have done so separately in the past.