An illustration taken in London on December 18, 2020 shows the logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a cell phone. – Accelerating the transition to an increasingly digital life, the coronavirus pandemic has increased the control of technology giants over the lives of billions of customers. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 17:45 PT – Friday, January 22, 2021
The tech giants reveal that they spent a total of $ 61 million lobbying last year.
On Thursday, the big tech companies released their lobby spending figures for the fourth quarter of 2020, revealing that Facebook and Amazon spent record amounts.
(COMBO) This combination of images created on July 7, 2020 shows (LR) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Paris on May 23, 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai Berlin on January 22, 2019, CEO from Apple Tim Cook on October 28, 2019 in Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of New York and Amazon in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 6, 2019. (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY, TOBIAS SCHWARZ, ANGELA WEISS, MARK RALSTON / AFP via Getty Images)
Facebook spent the most on lobbying, with almost $ 19.7 million in the entire year 2020, representing an increase of 17.8% over the previous year. Amazon came in second, with $ 17.9 million, followed by Google, Microsoft and Apple.
+++ New figures for spending on lobbying in the US have just been released. +++ GAFAM spent $ 61 million together in 2020. A little less than last year. But still at a high level. Two numbers stand out: Facebook increased its spending again, while Google recorded a significant drop. pic.twitter.com/RjWjcH863k
– LobbyControl Tech (@lobbyctrl_tech) January 22, 2021
Google spent $ 7.5 million, down sharply from $ 11.8 million in 2019.
In addition, the lobby of the technology giant Microsoft totaled $ 9.4 million in the year 2020 compared to $ 10.2 million in 2019. Apple’s spending also decreased slightly, to a total of $ 6.7 million in 2020, but $ 7.4 million in 2019.