Photo by Graeme Jennings-Pool/Getty Images
Massive tech companies may have been the focus of this week’s antitrust hearing, but one of the most arresting speeches came from a much smaller outfit.
Partway through the hearing, Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) played testimony from a third-party textbook seller on Amazon, who believed the company had started blocking their store as it grew more successful. At the time of the testimony, they hadn’t been able to sell a book for ten months, and despite hundreds of messages to Amazon, they couldn’t get an answer as to why.
“I’m concerned this is a pattern of behavior,” McBath told Bezos. “What do you have to say to the small businesses that are talking to Congress because you simply aren’t listening to them?”