U.S. House panel sets antitrust hearing with acting FTC chief, Colorado AG

[March 16, 2021]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel will hold a hearing on Thursday to discuss strengthening antitrust law, with the acting Federal Trade Commission chairwoman and the Colorado attorney general among the witnesses, the committee said in a statement on Monday.

Federal Trade Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter testifies on the "Oversight of the Federal Trade Commission" before the U.S. Senate Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Insurance and Data Security Subcommittee in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, U.S., November 27, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis

The witnesses will include acting FTC Chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. The FTC sued Facebook last year for allegedly breaking antitrust law while Colorado was among the states that sued both Facebook and Alphabet's Google.

Other witnesses are appeals court judge Diane Wood and Mike Walker of Britain's Competition and Markets Authority, the statement said.

Other witnesses may also be called, the statement said.

Representative David Cicilline, who chairs the subcommittee, has said he would introduce antitrust bills. The hearing is one of a series to discuss potential legislation, the statement said.

The discussions come at a time when there is a push for more rigorous enforcement of antitrust law, particularly with regard to Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. It also follows federal and state lawsuits against Facebook and Google, which accuse them of breaking antitrust law.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Chris Reese)

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