Big Oil and Big Tobacco once dominated the lobbying sector, dedicating billions of dollars to shape public policy. But now, Big Tech is the dominant spendthrift when it comes to influence-peddling.
In particular, Facebook and Amazon are now the two biggest corporate lobbying spenders in the United States, according to a new study by Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization.
The study underscores the shift in lobbying power, revealing that “In 2020, Amazon and Facebook spent nearly twice as much as Exxon and Philip Morris on lobbying.”
Public Citizen also shines a light on the specifics of Big Tech’s recent spending spree: “During the 2020 election cycle, Big Tech spent $124 million in lobbying and campaign contributions –– breaking its own records from past election cycles.” The report, released Wednesday, continues:
“Nearly all (94%) members of Congress with jurisdiction over privacy and antitrust issues have received money from a Big Tech corporate PAC or lobbyist. In total, just in 2020, Big Tech PACs and lobbyists have contributed about $3.2 million to lawmakers tasked with regulating them.”
In recent years, the four largest tech companies – Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Google parent Alphabet – have added 40 new lobbyists to their rosters, according to Public Citizen. Many of these lobbyists are “former congressional staffers, FTC officials, and other government officials.”
Such a “revolving door” dynamic blurs the line for policymakers. They might water down Big Tech regulation, hoping to preserve an opportunity to work as a corporate lobbyist in the future, or they might be unduly influenced by a former colleague.
In recent years, a bipartisan collection of lawmakers – supported by consumer groups – have expressed concerns about Big Tech’s monopolistic behavior. Some politicians, like Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, and Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican, have called for the break-up of Big Tech firms.
But the industry has the financial strength to fight back.
Earlier this month, Mother Jones published an investigation revealing that Amazon has hired at least 247 former U.S. government officials and employees in the past decade.
Public Citizen points out that Jay Carney, Amazon’s Senior Vice President for Policy and Press, was Obama’s press secretary and likely has extensive personal contacts to the Biden administration.
The revolving door swings both ways and back again. A former Apple lobbyist, Cynthia Hogan, has recently joined the Biden administration. She has worked with Biden in a number of capacities over the course of her pre-tech career.
Facebook had prioritized adding Republicans to its lobbying effort during the Trump years. But now it has reassigned its GOP-tied head of U.S. public policy and is reportedly looking for a replacement that will connect better with the Democratic majority in Congress.
The report from Public Citizen – which also highlights how Big Tech funds researchers amenable to their agenda, among other manipulative practices – offers the following conclusion:
“Big Tech’s increasingly dominant role in our economy and everyday lives is worsening social problems that need a political response. Yet as Big Tech converts its enormous economic and social power into political influence, our political system is hamstrung from addressing those increasingly serious issues. This problem is reflective both of Big Tech’s extraordinary wealth and power and a broken political system that works for giant corporations but not the rest of us. It is not susceptible to easy solutions.”
