San Francisco (AFP)

Four bosses whose companies largely dominate the global Internet in the face of American elected officials who have come up against this omnipotence that escapes them: the decor is set, the dialogue remains uncertain.

On Wednesday afternoon in Washington, the House Judiciary Committee will question Sundar Pichai (Alphabet, Google's parent company), Tim Cook (Apple), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon), who will express by videoconference, the coronavirus pandemic requires.

The theme may well be spelled out ("examine the dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google"), nothing says that parliamentarians are sticking to the review of competitive practices of GAFA.

On the left as on the right, and less than 100 days before the elections, they could be particularly aggressive against Facebook, which elected officials cannot do without to campaign.

"I'm afraid that the audience will turn into a discussion on content regulation, with the left wanting to force platforms to fight against content that promotes hatred and disinformation, while the right wants to force them to authorize, "comments Mark Lemley, professor of law at Stanford University.

Facebook is currently undergoing an advertising boycott of a thousand advertisers, orchestrated by civil society, which finds the group too lax in terms of moderation of content, especially from the far right.

The Republicans, with Donald Trump in the lead, feel themselves censored by the platforms.

Ironically, politicians, who are primarily aimed at their constituencies, will seek to create a scene that will make "a viral YouTube video," remarks Eric Goldman, director of the High-Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University.

- American dream -

Google and Facebook capture the bulk of global digital advertising revenue from the personal data of their billions of users.

Apple and Amazon, they are accused of being judge and party on their platforms, the app store for one and the e-commerce site for the other.

On Tuesday, the four bosses took the lead by publishing their opening speeches.

All intend to play on the patriotic fiber of American elected officials.

Their companies, "proudly American", as Mark Zuckerberg says of Facebook, owe their success to the country's values ​​and laws - democracy, freedom, inclusiveness, innovation, competition, etc.

"There are no guarantees that our values ​​will win. China, for example, is building its own version of the Internet on very different ideas, and exports this vision to other countries", asserts the young billionaire.

They also highlight their investments and job creation in the United States, as well as their personal career.

Above all, they ensure to promote competition and face fierce competition.

"Apple is not dominant in any of the markets where we do business," points out Tim Cook, the boss of the iPhone manufacturer.

- laws and men -

The judicial commission has been investigating possible abuses of a dominant position for months, but the hearing is unlikely to have major consequences.

Unlike the European authorities, the United States has been rather cautious on the issue so far.

US law, as applied in recent years, requires that in order to authorize action against businesses, their actions clearly harm consumers, by driving up prices, for example.

The discussions could, however, help elected officials determine whether new laws should be enacted to better regulate digital platforms.

An idea that supports Mark Zuckerberg, at least for the moderation of content: in his speech, he recalls that in his opinion governments should "play a more active role" to "update the rules of the Internet".

The emblematic bosses all recognize the relevance of a review of their activities by the authorities.

But Jeff Bezos, whose first hearing in Congress, however, intends to warn parliamentarians about his philosophy in relation to the critics.

“When we think our critics are right, we change. When we make mistakes, we apologize,” he says.

"But when you look in the mirror, assess the reviews, and still think you've made the right decisions, no force in the world should be able to make you change."

© 2020 AFP