Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has testified at a U.S. Federal Trade Commission hearing for an antitrust investigation that is looking at the company’s practices.

First reported by Politico, the testimony is said to have been conducted under oath remotely over two days this week, according to people familiar with the case.

FTC staff are noted as often interviewing witnesses under oath as part of their investigations in a process similar to a disposition and nearly always in cases they expect to lead to a lawsuit. The sources who spoke to Politico did note that the interview does not necessarily signal that the agency will pursue an antitrust lawsuit, however.

Facebook confirmed the news, with a spokesperson telling CNBC today that “we are committed to cooperating with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s inquiry and answering the questions the agency may have.”

The FTC’s antitrust probe into Facebook dates to June 2019, when the commission was allocated jurisdiction to investigate both Facebook and Amazon.com Inc. while the Justice Department was handed authority to investigate Apple Inc. and Google LLC.

Despite the FTC taking the reins on a probe of Facebook, other investigations have been mooted. In July 2019 it was reported that the U.S. Department of Justice had launched a new antitrust probe that covered Google, Facebook and Amazon, while a report in September also stated that the DoJ was also targeting Facebook.

Notably, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes is reported to be working with both the FTC and DoJ on how to break up the company. Hughes wrote a lengthy op-ed for The New York Times in May 2019 arguing that though he liked Zuckerberg personally, Facebook had become an Orwellian monster of unchecked power over social media platforms that can affect the way we think, influence elections and manipulate the zeitgeist. “Mark’s power is unprecedented and un-American,” Hughes said at the time.

The FTC and Justice Department are not alone in investigating big tech over antitrust allegations. The House judiciary committee’s antitrust subcommittee is also taking an interest. Zuckerberg testified to that committee in July along with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichar and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Photo: House Judiciary/Flickr