Apple CEO Tim Cook will participate in an antitrust hearing held by the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee on Monday, July 27 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the Judiciary Committee announced today. The hearing is part of an ongoing U.S. antitrust investigation that involves competition in digital markets.
The hearing, labeled "Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 6: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple," will also include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. There will be a live stream of the questioning available on YouTube.
Since the antitrust investigation launched last year, the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee has been investigating tech companies. Apple's App Store policies have been under scrutiny, and Apple has been questioned about the removal of certain apps, how search ranking results are determined, how the in-app purchase mechanism works, whether apps are allowed include in-app links to non-Apple payment systems, and Apple's policies on setting non-Apple apps as default.
Ahead of the hearing the committee has been soliciting opinions from App Store developers and there has been a recent focus on the 30 percent cut that Apple takes from in-app subscription purchases. Cook is likely to be questioned about Apple's App Store policies, including the subscription-based rules that have recently made headlines.
In a statement, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline said that it is essential to hear testimony from the CEOs of the four tech companies in the antitrust investigation.
"Since last June, the Subcommittee has been investigating the dominance of a small number of digital platforms and the adequacy of existing antitrust laws and enforcement. Given the central role these corporations play in the lives of the American people, it is critical that their CEOs are forthcoming. As we have said from the start, their testimony is essential for us to complete this investigation."
The investigation into Apple's App Store practices is in the early stages as the Justice Department is focusing resources on a separate investigation into Google's dominance in digital advertising, but the committee's goal with the hearing is to generate a report with recommendations on legislative action.
