Four big tech CEOs from Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon appeared against U.S. lawmakers in an antitrust video conference hearing. One of the highlights of the session is a few old emails from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg was confronted with Colorado Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse over emails discussing Facebook's strategy of buying competitive startups.
In the 2012 email marked as confidential, the CEO shared the news of the Instagram acquisition to which an employee replied: "Well done." However, adding to the spice, the emails also included a mention of buying from Google.
"One of the reasons people underestimate the importance of looking at Google is that we can still buy competitive startups, but it will be a while before we can buy Google," Zuckerberg wrote at the time.
Well, the deal might have been possible if Facebook was a big boy when Google tried to sell itself to Yahoo on two separate occasions. In this alternate reality, a seat would have been empty during the antitrust hearing.
Either way, responding to Neguse, Zuckerberg attempted to drag the awkwardness off his table by labeling the email as a joke.
"Member of Congress, I do not [remember] More precisely. But that sounds like a joke, "Zuckerberg replied when asked if he could remember writing that email.
The situation for other tech CEOs was quite similar, for example, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos also complained about poor memory while answering tough questions.
Neguse disagreed with the CEO and said, "I'm not taking it as a joke." The email was drafted right after Zuckerberg internally announced the acquisition of Instagram, and seeing it as an act of humor would be a tough pill to swallow.
"You know, looking at the email, it was about the closing of the Instagram sale, and that person's response, that engineer, to you was quote, 'well done,'" Neguse replied.
Facebook called for copying features
The social media giant has also been criticized for cloning the functionality of competing apps. While Facebook has managed to add Instagram to its shopping list, it has not been able to do so in the case of Snapchat. In 2013, Snap Inc. reportedly turned down Facebook's $ 3 billion offer.
Over the years, various Snapchat features have landed on Facebook-owned apps including Instagram.
During the hearing, Zuckerberg was questioned by Washington Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal if "Facebook had ever threatened to clone another company's products while also trying to acquire that company." The CEO replied that he did not remember.
When questioned, Zuckerberg denied using the underdeveloped Facebook Camera app as a threat to Instagram founder Kevin Systrom to finalize a potential deal.
Zuckerberg said he was not sure what the MP meant by "threatening" and argued that the well-documented Facebook Camera app was designed as a competing product.
However, Jayapal went further to present Systrom's old cats discussing the matter with an investor where Systrom feared Zuckerberg would go into "kill mode" if he didn't sell Instagram. Zuckerberg responded that he "would respectfully disagree with the characterization," and again stressed that they were going to compete one way or another. The CEO added that he did not see his conversations with Systrom, "threatening in any way."
In his final lines, Jayapal called Facebook "a case study of monopoly power."
The hearing marks the first steps in whether or not tech giants are abusing their market dominance and breaking antitrust laws to suppress competition. A detailed report of the investigation will be released in the coming weeks, suggesting further steps to take.
