Big Tech CEOs face off with Congress

Democrats and Republicans in Congress came out swinging against Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google on Wednesday, needling the tech giants’ top executives over their size, power and approach to a wide array of issues, including the content they allow online.

Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), the chairman of the House’s top antitrust subcommittee, opened the wide-ranging hearing by stressing that lawmakers’ year-long investigation into the industry had informed his growing belief that the country’s largest technology companies have “wielded their power in disruptive, harmful ways,” risking not only competition but the future of democracy itself.

Republicans, meanwhile, have sought to shift the focus of the hearing to allegations that major Silicon Valley companies censor conservatives online, levying charges of political bias that many experts have said are unsubstantiated — and that social media companies denied.