Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will tout American values he says Facebook champions to defend his company’s size at a congressional hearing on Wednesday about antitrust issues with Big Tech.
Mr. Zuckerberg will call Facebook “a proudly American company” that would not have succeeded without U.S. laws encouraging competition and innovation, in contrast to China’s communist system, according to his prepared remarks for a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing.
“We believe in values—democracy, competition, inclusion and free expression—that the American economy was built on,” Mr. Zuckerberg will say, according to his prepared remarks. “Many other tech companies share these values, but there’s no guarantee our values will win out. For example, China is building its own version of the internet focused on very different ideas, and they are exporting their vision to other countries. As Congress and other stakeholders consider how antitrust laws support competition in the U.S., I believe it’s important to maintain the core values of openness and fairness that have made America’s digital economy a force for empowerment and opportunity here and around the world.”
Mr. Zuckerberg plans to tell House lawmakers that the success of apps such as Instagram and WhatsApp has been made possible by developing within Facebook rather than as independent companies.
Alongside Mr. Zuckerberg, House lawmakers will hear from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Apple’s Tim Cook, and Google’s Sundar Pichai on Wednesday afternoon.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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