US: House panel’s “Big Tech” report due early 2020

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee expects to have a final report on its probe of big technology companies and their potential breaches of antitrust law, by the “first part” of next year, reported Reuters.

The Committee has received tens of thousands of documents from Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon, and Apple and is expecting more material in the coming weeks, Representative David Cicilline told reporters.

“Our hope is to conclude our evidence collection end of this year, beginning of next year with the idea that we will have a final report, instead of recommendations in the first part of next year,” said Cicilline, a Democrat. 

He made the comments at a hearing to discuss the effect of consumer data collection by big technology platforms on online competition. Rohit Chopra, Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, as well as experts from Harvard Kennedy School and the American Enterprise Institute participated in the hearing.

There are several probes at the federal, state, and congressional level aimed at determining if big technology companies use their considerable clout in the online market illegally to hurt rivals or otherwise break competition law.

Full Content: Reuters

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.