Mark, are you a big, fat copy cat?
During Wednesday's congressional hearing with Big Tech CEOs on potential violations of antitrust law, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a grilling on his company's search-and-destroy business tactics.
Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal read a number of damning email exchanges between Zuckerberg, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and other top brass that explicitly stated the company's strategy of neutralizing competition through copying products and bullying rivals into selling.
"Do you copy your competitors?" Jayapal asked.
"We've certainly adapted features that others have led on, as have others copied and adapted features that we've led on," Zuckerberg said.
If you recall, Facebook-owned Instagram cloned Snapchat's "stories" feature. Snapchat's users plummeted shortly thereafter.
Speaking of Instagram, Jayapal also wanted to know whether Zuckerberg had ever planned to copy a competing product, and hold the potential for Facebook's own version of a product over the heads of a competitor as incentive to sell.
"Has Facebook ever threatened to clone the products of another company while also trying to acquire that company?" Jayapal asked.
"Not that I recall," Mark responded. To which Jayapal said: "I'd like to remind you that you are under oath."
Watch the full spicy exchange above.
