Big Tech on the Hill: The Tipline for 21 April 2021

Concerns over the control of dominant technology companies seeped into a Senate commerce committee hearing yesterday that saw all four members of the Federal Trade Commission testify. Senator Ted Cruz said he “spent two wonderful years” at the agency but criticised it for not doing “nearly enough to rein in the abuse of power of Big Tech”. How to take on Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple is likely to be a big topic during this morning’s Senate confirmation hearing for Lina Khan, who has been appointed to serve as an FTC commissioner. And this afternoon, Apple and Google executives will testify at a Senate antitrust subcommittee hearing over competition in app stores.