US lawmakers probe whether Amazon misled Congress

Pointing to caller quality reports connected however Amazon advantages its ain products implicit third-party items, a bipartisan radical of lawmakers connected Monday questioned whether the tech elephantine had committed perjury.

Amazon has agelong insisted that its level is agnostic, not favoring company-made goods implicit those provided by different sellers.

But lawmakers with the House Judiciary Committee cited caller accounts that Amazon-made products were listed supra third-party items with higher user ratings; and that Amazon made usage of proprietary information from 3rd parties to marketplace copycat goods.

A missive from the radical questioned whether officials with the tech elephantine had perjured themselves successful anterior statements to the committee.

Amazon defended its past statements, disputing the accuracy of the quality reports and saying "we plan our hunt acquisition to diagnostic the items customers volition privation to purchase, careless of whether they are offered by Amazon oregon 1 of our selling partners," according to a institution spokesperson.

The back-and-forth comes arsenic tech giants look greater attraction from Washington successful the aftermath of meteoric maturation has accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic.

The letter, signed by New York Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler, Colorado Republican Representative Ken Buck and 3 different lawmakers, quoted statements from Amazon officials successful legislature grounds and correspondence denying that company's algorithms are designed to prioritize company-made items.

"At best, this reporting confirms that Amazon's representatives misled the Committee," said the missive to Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy. "At worst, it demonstrates that they whitethorn person lied to Congress successful imaginable usurpation of national transgression law."

The lawmakers gave Amazon until November 1 to supply documents and "sworn" responses to questions, noting that perjury successful the people of the legislature probe is simply a national crime.

Amazon defended its conduct.

"Amazon and its executives did not mislead the committee, and we person denied and sought to close the grounds connected the inaccurate media articles successful question," an Amazon spokesperson said.

"As we person antecedently stated, we person an interior policy, which goes beyond that of immoderate different retailer's argumentation that we're alert of, that prohibits the usage of idiosyncratic seller information to make Amazon backstage statement products. We analyse immoderate allegations that this argumentation whitethorn person been violated and instrumentality due action."

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© 2021 AFP