Facebook and Amazon Set Lobbying Records Amid Washington Scrutiny
Source: Bloomberg
Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. set federal lobbying records in the third quarter as Washington ramps up oversight of the tech giants’ business practices.
Facebook spent $4.8 million, an increase of almost 70% from the same period the year before. The world’s largest social-media company is grappling with a mushrooming list of challenges, including federal and state antitrust investigations and criticism over its handling of users’ personal information and its treatment of political content.
Amazon spent $4 million on lobbying, the most the e-commerce giant has ever spent in a single quarter. The online retail giant, which runs a diverse set of businesses, is fending off criticism from policy makers over its acquisitions and its bid for a highly lucrative Pentagon cloud contract.
Spending by Alphabet Inc.’s Google dropped almost 50% to $2.8 million from $5.5 million during the same period last year as it reshuffles its Washington lobbying operations under Karan Bhatia, the global policy chief who joined the company last year. In September, Google hired former Republican Senate aide Mark Isakowitz to head up its operations in the capital, replacing Susan Molinari. During the second quarter, Google ended its relationship with more than a dozen lobbyists at six outside firms.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-22/facebook-amazon-set-lobbying-records-amid-washington-scrutiny?utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_medium=social&cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=business
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