In a first of its kind anti-trust hearing, four most powerful CEOs in the tech world faced damning questions - Google's Sundar Pichai, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

They were called "monarchs" by the angry and determined US congressional committee. The lawmakers made it clear they shall not bow in front of the&nbsp;"emperors" of the online economy. The grilling went on for more than five hours. It began with the big four being slammed for using their power to crush rivals.

"Many of the practices used by these companies have harmful economic effects. they discourage entrepreneurship, destroy jobs, hike costs and degrade quality. Simply put, they have too much power," the committee chairman's said.

Too big, too powerful - that's was the main accusation. The four companies are valued at $5 trillion which is more than the GDP of Germany.

All the CEOs unanimously said they are not as big as the lawmakers think. They had one argument to make: breaking up US companies would help China. They emphasised that their companies are from America, for America but failed to explain their business practices.

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Google and Facebook faced the worst ire.&nbsp;The questions and answers went like this:&nbsp;

"First question, Mr Pichai, why does Google steal content from honest businesses?" the chairman asked.

"I disagree with that characterization," Sundar Pichai said. The lawmaker hit back with evidence allegedly&nbsp;Google stole reviews from crowd-sourced review app Yelp and&nbsp;threatened to delist the company, if it objected.

Next, the committee accused Facebook of using threats to acquire Instagram. "Has Facebook ever threatened to clone the products of another company while also attempting to acquire that company?" the lawmaker asked.

"Congresswoman, not that I would not that I recall," Facebook founder Zuckerberg said. Once again&nbsp;the committee hit back with evidence with internal emails in which Zuckerberg himself had threatened Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom.

Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, the biggest tech company in the world, was delayed due to tech issues. He was accused of breaching data privacy laws.

"Does Amazon ever access and use third-party seller data when making business decisions? and just yes or no will suffice sir," the lawmaker asserted.

"I can't answer that question yes or no," Bezos said.

Then came the role of China, the committee demanded clarification. The question was asked if Apple was still manufacturing its iPhones in China? and why was Amazon featuring 80 companies to source from China and use bonded Uighur labour?

Amazon CEO Bezos did not say much, but, Apple CEO Tim Cook had an answer.

"Forced labour is abhorrent, and we would not tolerate it in Apple, and so I would love to get with your office and engage in the legislation." The lawmakers asked more about China.

While the others evaded the question, Zuckerberg said: "Congressman, I think it's well documented that the Chinese government steals technology from American companies."

A hearing such as this has not been seen in a long time, not since Microsoft stood trial in the 1990s and not since the 1994 Congressional hearing of top American tobacco executives including the AT&amp;T antitrust trial in the 1980s.

 
&nbsp;

In a first of its kind anti-trust hearing, four most powerful CEOs in the tech world faced damning questions - Google's Sundar Pichai, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.

In a first of its kind anti-trust hearing, four most powerful CEOs in the tech world faced damning questions - Google's Sundar Pichai, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's Tim Cook and Amazon's Jeff Bezos. They were called "monarchs" by the angry and determined US congressional committee. The lawmakers made it clear they shall not bow in front of the "emperors" of the online economy. The grilling went on for more than five hours. It began with the big four being slammed for using their power to crush rivals. "Many of the practices used by these companies have harmful economic effects. they discourage entrepreneurship, destroy jobs, hike costs and degrade quality. Simply put, they have too much power," the committee chairman's said. Too big, too powerful - that's was the main accusation. The four companies are valued at $5 trillion which is more than the GDP of Germany. All the CEOs unanimously said they are not as big as the lawmakers think. They had one argument to make: breaking up US companies would help China. They emphasised that their companies are from America, for America but failed to explain their business practices. × Google and Facebook faced the worst ire. The questions and answers went like this: "First question, Mr Pichai, why does Google steal content from honest businesses?" the chairman asked. "I disagree with that characterization," Sundar Pichai said. The lawmaker hit back with evidence allegedly Google stole reviews from crowd-sourced review app Yelp and threatened to delist the company, if it objected. Next, the committee accused Facebook of using threats to acquire Instagram. "Has Facebook ever threatened to clone the products of another company while also attempting to acquire that company?" the lawmaker asked. "Congresswoman, not that I would not that I recall," Facebook founder Zuckerberg said. Once again the committee hit back with evidence with internal emails in which Zuckerberg himself had threatened Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom. Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, the biggest tech company in the world, was delayed due to tech issues. He was accused of breaching data privacy laws. "Does Amazon ever access and use third-party seller data when making business decisions? and just yes or no will suffice sir," the lawmaker asserted. "I can't answer that question yes or no," Bezos said. Then came the role of China, the committee demanded clarification. The question was asked if Apple was still manufacturing its iPhones in China? and why was Amazon featuring 80 companies to source from China and use bonded Uighur labour? Amazon CEO Bezos did not say much, but, Apple CEO Tim Cook had an answer. "Forced labour is abhorrent, and we would not tolerate it in Apple, and so I would love to get with your office and engage in the legislation." The lawmakers asked more about China. While the others evaded the question, Zuckerberg said: "Congressman, I think it's well documented that the Chinese government steals technology from American companies." A hearing such as this has not been seen in a long time, not since Microsoft stood trial in the 1990s and not since the 1994 Congressional hearing of top American tobacco executives including the AT&T antitrust trial in the 1980s.

China looms as US Congress committee grills chiefs of big 4 tech companies

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's five-hour-long testimony before US lawmakers had him grilled to his core, but one question that had the Facebook chief foxed out of his wits was when Senator Richard J. Durbin asked him to share the details of his hotel stay from the previous night.&nbsp;

"Mr Zuckerberg, would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?" Durbin asked.&nbsp;

"Uh, no, I would probably not," Zuckerberg replied.&nbsp;

Aptly put, Senator Durbin had Zuckerberg have a taste of his own medicine, detailing the significance and the sensitivity involved in protecting private details of a person/user.&nbsp;

"I think maybe what this is all about is your right to privacy, the limits of your privacy and how much do you give away in modern America in the name of 'connecting people around the world'," the Senator noted.&nbsp;

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Facebook CEO <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarkZuckerberg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarkZuckerberg</a> faces members of the U.S. Senate and grilled over data misuse — Watch here. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CambridgeAnalytics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CambridgeAnalytics</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FacebookDataLeaks?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FacebookDataLeaks</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FacebookHearing?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FacebookHearing</a> <a href="https://t.co/gFkNXkJbEP">pic.twitter.com/gFkNXkJbEP</a>
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Another question posed to Zuckerberg asked him if his company or he was too powerful.&nbsp;

Zuckerberg replied saying that most people refer to the scale of his company which has close to 2 billion users across the globe, mostly outside America, "Americans should be proud of this," he noted.&nbsp;

Zuckerberg further added that he is not a person who is against any type of regulation on the internet. "Internet is becoming an extremely integral part of people's lives. I think we need to have a full conversation about what is the right regulation," Zuckerberg noted.

mark Zuckerberg's testimony came after it was revealed in March that British firm Cambridge Analytica tied to US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign improperly collected profile data of up to 87 million Facebook users.

The scandal shook confidence in Facebook, leading some people to go as far as abandoning the social media site altogether a revolt called the hashtag #DeleteFacebook.

Zuckerberg, who is also the CEO of Facebook, said data privacy and foreign interference in elections were topics that they have discussed at the Facebook board meeting.

"These are some of the biggest issues that the company has faced, and we feel a huge responsibility to get these right," Zuckerberg told lawmakers during the Congressional hearing, adding that "this is one of my top priorities in 2018".

'I think maybe what this is all about is your right to privacy, the limits of your privacy and how much do you give away in modern America in the name of 'connecting people around the world',' the senator said

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's five-hour-long testimony before US lawmakers had him grilled to his core, but one question that had the Facebook chief foxed out of his wits was when Senator Richard J. Durbin asked him to share the details of his hotel stay from the previous night. "Mr Zuckerberg, would you be comfortable sharing with us the name of the hotel you stayed in last night?" Durbin asked. "Uh, no, I would probably not," Zuckerberg replied. Aptly put, Senator Durbin had Zuckerberg have a taste of his own medicine, detailing the significance and the sensitivity involved in protecting private details of a person/user. "I think maybe what this is all about is your right to privacy, the limits of your privacy and how much do you give away in modern America in the name of 'connecting people around the world'," the Senator noted. Facebook CEO #MarkZuckerberg faces members of the U.S. Senate and grilled over data misuse — Watch here. #CambridgeAnalytics #FacebookDataLeaks #FacebookHearing pic.twitter.com/gFkNXkJbEP — WION (@WIONews) April 11, 2018 × Another question posed to Zuckerberg asked him if his company or he was too powerful. Zuckerberg replied saying that most people refer to the scale of his company which has close to 2 billion users across the globe, mostly outside America, "Americans should be proud of this," he noted. Zuckerberg further added that he is not a person who is against any type of regulation on the internet. "Internet is becoming an extremely integral part of people's lives. I think we need to have a full conversation about what is the right regulation," Zuckerberg noted. mark Zuckerberg's testimony came after it was revealed in March that British firm Cambridge Analytica tied to US President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign improperly collected profile data of up to 87 million Facebook users. The scandal shook confidence in Facebook, leading some people to go as far as abandoning the social media site altogether a revolt called the hashtag #DeleteFacebook. Zuckerberg, who is also the CEO of Facebook, said data privacy and foreign interference in elections were topics that they have discussed at the Facebook board meeting. "These are some of the biggest issues that the company has faced, and we feel a huge responsibility to get these right," Zuckerberg told lawmakers during the Congressional hearing, adding that "this is one of my top priorities in 2018".

Watch: US senator asks for personal details, Facebook's Zuckerberg won't give them

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China looms as US Congress committee grills chiefs of big 4 tech companies

Watch: US senator asks for personal details, Facebook's Zuckerberg won't give them