(Bloomberg) — Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. became the largest
corporate lobbying spenders in Washington the last two years,
outstripping defense contractors and telecommunications providers,
according to a new report from a progressive consumer advocacy
group.Facebook increased spending 56% to $19.7 million between 2018 and
2020, while Amazon spent 30% more to reach $18.7 million. Those increases
put them far ahead of companies like Comcast Corp., which spent $14.4
million last year, and Lockheed Martin Corp., which invested nearly $13
million, according to the report by Public Citizen. The figures were
based on data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics, which
tracks lobbying disclosures.?The foundation of the Big Tech companies?
influence are their lobbying teams, which use campaign contributions,
existing relationships, and past experience to swing policy in their
favor,? read the report, which was written by Public Citizen?s Jane
Chung. ?While not even in the top eight spenders in 2017, Facebook and
Amazon are now the two largest individual lobbying spenders.?The
technology giants increased their spending as they came under
unprecedented antitrust scrutiny in Washington. Facebook and Google were
sued by the Trump administration for allegations they violated antitrust
laws, while a House panel led by Rhode Island Democrat David Cicilline
issued sweeping recommendations to reform antitrust laws that could rein
in their power.Nearly all lawmakers with oversight over privacy and
antitrust matters — 94% — have received money from a corporate
political action committee or a lobbyist representing a big technology
company, the report added. In 2020, lawmakers received about $3.2 million
in contributions.The data used doesn?t include numbers from trade groups
or federations representing multiple businesses.The four largest
technology companies — Amazon, Apple Inc., Facebook and Alphabet Inc.?s
Google hired 40 lobbyists in the two-year period, according to the
report.For more articles like this, please visit us at
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