Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as part of the agency’s antitrust investigation into the popular social media giant, CNBC reported.
It’s unknown what Zuckerberg spoke about over the course of his two-day virtual testimony, but the testimony does show that the FTC is still going forward with the investigation it opened in June of last year, according to the CNBC report.
Facebook spokesman Joe Osborne said the company is “committed to cooperating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have,” CNBC reported.
Competition and antitrust issues have roiled Big Tech as of late, with numerous entities questioning how such firms’ prominence and power affects competitors or other companies trying to gain a foothold in the sphere. Critics have called Facebook out before on privacy issues, usually dealing with how users’ data is disseminated for advertising or other means.
Zuckerberg, for his part, has contended that competition is important to Facebook as it helps the social media company continue to innovate.
He said the number of firms coming up with new ideas is what prompted Facebook to experiment with purchases like Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus, and so the U.S.’s focus on antitrust laws is a good thing in his opinion. He said the history of technology is often one of failure, so it is important for his company to keep innovating.
Zuckerberg also appeared in a much-publicized Congressional hearing in July alongside the CEOs of Amazon, Apple and Google parent Alphabet, in which they spoke virtually about the influence their companies have had over the market.
PYMNTS weighed in on this, arguing that none of the companies truly has a monopoly because they’re all working to gain users in various fields, including social media, delivery, advertising, entertainment, news and more.
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