Democrats and Republicans find unity in trashing Big Tech

New York CNN Business — Two years ago, Facebook changed its mission statement to focus on “bringing the world closer together.” On Tuesday, it appeared to accomplish that lofty goal for the political world, at least, as Republican and Democrat lawmakers united in bipartisan distrust of the social media giant. “Instead of cleaning up your house, now you’re launching into a another business model.” Facebook wasn’t alone, with Google and Amazon also taking heat in Washington throughout the day Tuesday. At one point in the hearing, Perault said: “Many of our competitors are sitting at this table with me.” Lawmakers also zeroed in on Amazon, questioning whether it is gaining an anticompetitive advantage over the third-party merchants on its platform because of its powerful relationship with them – an idea that underpins Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal to break up Amazon, in particular. I am calling for Labor Department inspectors to come in, unannounced, and do thorough investigations of the facilities where hundreds of workers have told me about horrendous conditions and abuse.” Companies say China is the competition The House Judiciary Committee held its hearing as part of a “top-to-bottom” antitrust investigation of the tech industry announced last month. The latest hearing will focus on “innovation and entrepreneurship.” In prepared remarks for the antitrust hearing Tuesday, the four execs representing the tech giants defended their companies against charges of becoming dangerously powerful.