House investigators say they have begun receiving data from big tech firms

Big tech firms use their considerable clout in the online market illegally to hurt rivals

WASHINGTON: The leaders of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee said late on Tuesday that they had begun receiving data from Facebook, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon, and Apple as part of their probe into the companies’ potential breaches of antitrust law.

The probe is one of several at the federal, state and congressional level aimed at determining if the companies use their considerable clout in the online market illegally to hurt rivals or otherwise break competition law.

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“We have received initial submissions from Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook as part of our investigation. While we do not yet have all of the information we requested, we expect that all four companies will provide the information in short order,” the committee’s leaders said in a joint statement.

“We look forward to their continued compliance with the committee’s investigation,” they said in the statement.

The statement was from Representatives Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee; Doug Collins, the top Republican on the committee; David Cicilline, chair of the antitrust subcommittee and Jim Sensenbrenner, the top Republican on the antitrust subcommittee.

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“We will hold additional hearings, discussions, and roundtables as our investigation continues,” the statement said.

Facebook and Google declined to comment, while Amazon and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.