What Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple have in common

On Wednesday, lawmakers squared off with the chief executives of the tech industry’s four most powerful players, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Even though each company is under antitrust scrutiny for different reasons, the committee used this week’s hearing to point out similarities between all four, making the case for future regulatory reform.

Since last June, lawmakers have been engaged in a sweeping antitrust investigation into the tech sector, honing in on how some of the most notable names in the industry have grown too big by allegedly stifling competition. Lawmakers have heard hundreds of hours of testimony and obtained over one million documents throughout their investigation, a process that made it difficult for CEOs...

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