Description
On July 29, 2020 the CEOs of four leading technology companies (Jeff Bezos/Amazon, Tim Cook/Apple, Sundar
Pichai/Alphabet-Google, Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook) testified before the US Congressional House Subcommittee
on Anti-Trust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.
The hearing focused on the ethical/legal/regulatory issues surrounding these companies, whose accumulation of
commercial, financial, and technological assets has heightened concerns over the power of “Big Tech”:
Anti-trust
Market power
Worker’s rights
Foreign operations
Online content
Privacy
Subsequent to the summer 2020 hearing, the U.S. Justice Department launched an anti-trust case against Google,
charging that company with illegal exploitation of its market power. The Google case signals the prospect of
federal anti-trust suits against other Big Tech companies.
Your assignment is the following:
• Read the opening statements of the CEOs of your selected companies (statements attached below)• Critically evaluate the CEO statements from the lens of business ethics
• Write an essay (total of 4-6 pages, double-spaced) addressing the following questions:
- – Are these companies exercising their power in responsible ways? Why or why not?
- – On balance, do these companies play a positive role in society? Why or why not?
- – In your view, what is the appropriate role of government regulation of Big Tech?
Essays will be graded according to the following criteria:- Ability to formulate a clear and coherent argument
- Use of course readings, lectures, videos, and class discussions to support the argument
- Clarity of structure and organization
- Quality of grammar and prose
