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Business / World Business

Facebook's Zuckerberg pledges cooperation with U.S. antitrust probe

Published: 20 Sep 2019 - 07:54 pm | Last Updated: 08 Nov 2021 - 02:08 pm
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg addresses the audience during a meeting of the APEC CEO Summit in Lima, Peru, November 19, 2016. Reuters/Mariana Bazo

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg addresses the audience during a meeting of the APEC CEO Summit in Lima, Peru, November 19, 2016. Reuters/Mariana Bazo

Bryan Pietsch & David Shepardson I Reuters

WASHINGTON:  Congressman David Cicilline, chair of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, said on Friday that Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged cooperation with the panel's probe into online markets during a meeting on Capitol Hill.

The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opened an investigation into competition in digital markets early in June, one of a series of investigations facing big tech companies like Amazon.com Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook and Alphabet Inc's Google.

"Mr. Zuckerberg made a commitment to cooperate with the investigation and I look forward to his cooperation and I think we’ll produce a good report at the end of the investigation," Democratic Representative Cicilline from Rhode Island said after the half-hour meeting with Zuckerberg that was also attended by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler.

Representative Doug Collins, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, told reporters after an earlier meeting that they had also discussed the committee's bipartisan antitrust probe into big tech companies.

"I encouraged him to come to the table, help us out - and this is not an adversarial role from my perspective," Collins said, adding they talked in general terms but not over whether Facebook will comply with the document requests. "I think with their involvement, you are going to see a lot more participation."

Last week, the panel demanded internal emails, detailed financial information and other company records from top executives of Amazon, Facebook Inc, Apple and Google, widening the antitrust probe of the tech giants.

The companies have until Oct. 14 to produce internal emails sent over the last decade by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Larry Page, among others, about acquisitions and other issues.