Big Tech pays a king's ransom to lobby politicians
 

That is US "democracy" for you

Big Tech is dramatically increasing how much it pays to attract the attention of US politicians

Google disclosed in a quarterly filing that it spent a company record of $21.2 million on lobbying the US government in 2018, topping its previous high of $18.22 million in 2012, as the search engine operator fights wide ranging scrutiny into its doings.

It is not the only one. Facebook has revealed that it spent more on government lobbying in 2018 than it ever had before at $12.62 million. That was up from $11.51 million a year ago, according to tracking by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Google’s spent $18.04 million on lobbying in 2017, according to the centre’s data.

US lawmakers and regulators have weighed new privacy and antitrust rules to rein in the power of large internet service providers such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. Regulatory backlash in the United States, as well as Europe and Asia, is near the top of the list of concerns for technology investors, according to financial analysts.

https://fudzilla.com/news/47994-big-...by-politicians