Facebook, Amazon spent record amounts on lobbying in 2020

January 22, 2021 KayAdmin US 0

An illustration picture taken in London on December 18, 2020 shows the logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone. – Accelerating the transition to an ever more digital life, the coronavirus pandemic has tightened tech giants’ grip on billions of customers’ lives. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:45 PM PT – Friday, January 22, 2021

Tech giants reveal they spent a total of $61 million in lobbying last year.

On Thursday, the Big Tech companies released their lobbying spending numbers for the fourth quarter of 2020, revealing Facebook and Amazon spent record-breaking amounts.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on July 07, 2020 shows (L-R) Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in Paris on May 23, 2018, Google CEO Sundar Pichai Berlin on January 22, 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook on October 28, 2019 in New York and Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos 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 at nearly $19.7 million for the full year of 2020, which is a 17.8 percent increase from the year before. Amazon came in second at $17.9 million, followed by Google, Microsoft and Apple.

+++ New figures for lobbying spending in the U.S. just released.+++ GAFAM together spent $61 million in 2020. A little bit less than last year. But still at high level. Two numbers stand out: Facebook has again increased its spending, while Google recorded a significant decrease. pic.twitter.com/RjWjcH863k

— LobbyControl Tech (@lobbyctrl_tech) January 22, 2021

Google spent $7.5 million, which is a sharp decrease from $11.8 million in 2019.

Furthermore, tech giant Microsoft’s lobbying totaled $9.4 million in the year 2020 compared to $10.2 million in 2019. Apple’s spending also decreased slightly, for a total of $6.7 million in 2020, but $7.4 million in 2019.