Facebook spends record $3.3mn on lobbying in Q1

Bloomberg

Facebook Inc. set a lobbying record in the first three months, just as an uproar flared up the leak of data on millions of users’ without their permission.
The company spent $3.3 million, according to disclosures filed with the government, up from the $3.21 million it spent in the same period a year earlier, which represented the company’s prior high.
The world’s largest social-media company lobbied on issues including federal privacy legislation, online advertising, internet privacy and security, the filing said. It also referred to “general discussions on data breach,” without providing further details. A company representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for clarification about what the data breach lobbying referred to.
Towards the end of the first quarter, Facebook was hit by revelations that data on millions of users had been improperly obtained by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that worked on President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg was grilled on the issue by Congress in April and some members of both parties are considering privacy legislation.

Tech Under Scrutiny
Tech companies including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook and Amazon.com Inc. are being scrutinised in Washington over their responsibility for online content, potential market dominance, and competition for government contracts. Some on Capitol Hill are calling for more regulation of the sector.
Among the tech giants, Google spent $5.02 million on lobbying in the first quarter, up 43 percent from a year earlier and 14 percent from the last quarter of 2017, according to its filing. Firms representing its subsidiaries had yet to report. The company, which is routinely the top spender in the tech sector, set a company record of $5.93 million in the second quarter of 2017.
Microsoft disclosed spending $2.3 million on lobbying in the first quarter, including on the data-request bill, the same as a year earlier and up 6 percent from the fourth quarter. Amazon spent $3.38 million in first three months, up 17 percent from a year earlier and 2 percent higher than the fourth quarter, the disclosures show. Apple Inc. spent $2.14 million, up 53 percent from a year earlier and 33 percent from the fourth quarter. Facebook lobbied the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives and government agencies including the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission, the company also said in its disclosure.
The social media site had already endured more than a year of criticism for its role in the spread of fake news, online extremism and Russia’s campaign to swing the 2016 presidential election to Trump.
Facebook also disclosed lobbying on a bill that would increase transparency requirements for online political advertising — a measure that the company announced it would support as it responded to Cambridge Analytica fallout in April.
Google worked on issues including tax reform and antitrust. The bill, which became law in April, creates liability for sites that knowingly
facilitate trafficking.
It represents one of the first US efforts to weaken legal protections for online platforms and many companies in the tech sector spent the first three months of the year focussed on the legislation.

Drug industry sets lobbying records
Bloomberg

The drug industry set several quarterly records for lobbying spending in the first three months of 2018 as it faced pressure from President Donald Trump’s administration and lawmakers on drug pricing, generic medicines and trade.
The Pharmaceutical Rese-arch and Manufacturers of America spent $9.96 million on federal lobbying, according to disclosures filed with the government.
The trade group increased its spending by nearly $2 million from the same period in the year 2017, when it also set a quarterly record.
Bayer Corp., AbbVie Inc., Sanofi US, Novo Nordisk A/S and Celgene Corp all reached new highs in their spending as well. spending on lobbying was reported twice a year until 2008.

Uber’s lobbying spend rises
Uber Technologies Inc. spent a record amount on federal lobbying in the first three months of the year as it seeks to emerge from a series of scandals and change gears in Washington under new leadership.
The ride-hailing company disclosed spending $540,000 in the first quarter of 2018, up from $510,000 in the last quarter of 2017 and from its previous quarterly record of $520,000 in the third quarter.
Uber spokeswoman Carly DeBeikes declined to comment on the company’s lobbying record or its strategy in Washington.