Big Tech's Lobbying Expenses Rose by 15% in H1
Amazon spent a record $4.98 million on lobbying in Q2 as Congress intensified efforts to pass legislation intended to crack down on technology giants.
With the US government gradually moving towards putting more pressure on big tech, the four companies have increased their spending on lobbying efforts.
Amazon spent a record $4.98 million on lobbying in Q2 as Congress intensified efforts to pass legislation intended to crack down on technology giants. Amazon’s lobbying expenditures increased 2.5% over the second quarter of 2021, according to disclosure reports.
Apple spent $1.9 million, which marks a slight decrease compared to its record $2.5 million In Q1 this year. However, as the chart shows, this is already enough to set a new annual spending record.
Google, in its turn spent $2.77 million, marking a 32% increase from a year earlier and a 6.4% decrease from $2.96 million in the first three months of the year.
Microsoft, which surprisingly did not try to put barriers on the Congress' way and did not oppose the antitrust legislation, spent $2.41 million on lobbying in the second quarter, a 2.4% decrease since last year.
Two top tech trade groups, Netchoice and Technet, both spent more on lobbying in the second quarter than a year ago. Netchoice, a right-leaning trade association that counts Amazon, Google and Meta among its members, spent $120,000, up about 200% from $40,000 in last year’s second quarter. Technet spent $300,000 in the three months ending in June, up 42.9% from the same period last year.
