Facebook on Thursday said its executives are fielding questions from the US Federal Trade Commission on an antitrust fact-finding mission.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered FTC queries under oath remotely over the course of two days this week, news website Politico reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the case.

"We are committed to cooperating with the US Federal Trade Commission's inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have," a Facebook spokesperson said, declining to confirm whether Zuckerberg gave testimony.

FTC investigations do no always lead to lawsuits.

Last month Zuckerberg plus CEOs Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Sundar Pichai of Google were grilled for more than five hours in an unprecedented joint appearance -- by video -- before a House of Representatives panel investigating market dominance.

The head of a US congressional antitrust committee contended that the companies are too powerful and will likely emerge from the coronavirus pandemic even stronger.

"Simply put, they have too much power," House Judiciary Antitrust subcommittee chair David Cicilline said.

"Whether it's through self-preferencing, predatory pricing, or requiring users to buy additional products, the dominant platforms have wielded their power in destructive, harmful ways in order to expand," the Democrat from Rhode Island said.

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Google rallies YouTubers against Australian news payment plan
Sydney (AFP) Aug 18, 2020
Google has urged YouTubers around the world to complain to Australian authorities as it ratchets up its campaign against a plan to force digital giants to pay for news content. Alongside pop-ups warning "the way Aussies use Google is at risk", which began appearing for Australian Google users on Monday, the tech titan also urged YouTube creators worldwide to complain to the nation's consumer watchdog. "The YouTube you know and love is at risk in Australia," the company tweeted from its YouTube C ... read more