Waiting in the lobby
Move over big tobacco, big oil, big pharma and big defence — big tech is here, and they are outspending everyone when it comes to trying to influence politics in the United States.
According to the latest data (from Open Secrets), Facebook and Amazon are officially the biggest spenders in corporate lobbying of the US government, together shelling out more than $38m last year to lawyers and lobbyists.
You don't have to look very far to see why big tech are spending so much. Just this week three tech CEOs, including Mark Zuckerberg, were subject to a congressional hearing. Even if nothing concrete comes from these hearings, big tech is in the sights of regulators, and they know it. Will $19m a year in lobbying spend be enough to convince regulators to leave Facebook alone? Time will tell.
