An illustration photo taken in London on December 18, 2020 shows the logos of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft displayed on a mobile phone. – By accelerating the transition to an increasingly digital life, the coronavirus pandemic has tightened the grip of tech giants on the lives of billions of customers. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
TO Newsroom
UPDATE 5:45 PM PT – Friday, January 22, 2021
Tech giants reveal that they spent a total of $ 61 million on lobbying last year.
On Thursday, the Big Tech companies announced their fourth quarter 2020 lobby spending, which revealed that Facebook and Amazon had spent record-breaking amounts.
(COMBO) This combination of photos taken 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, Apple CEO Tim Cook on October 28, 2019 in Founder and CEO of New York and Amazon 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 lobbying at nearly $ 19.7 million for the full year 2020, up 17.8 percent from the previous year. Amazon finished in second place with $ 17.9 million, followed by Google, Microsoft and Apple.
+++ New figures for US lobbying have just been released +++ GAFAM together spent $ 61 million in 2020. Slightly less than last year. But still at a high level. Two figures stand out: Facebook has again spent more, while Google recorded a sharp decline. pic.twitter.com/RjWjcH863k
– LobbyControl Tech (@lobbyctrl_tech) January 22, 2021
Google spent $ 7.5 million, which is a sharp drop from $ 11.8 million in 2019.
Additionally, the lobbying activities of technology giant Microsoft totaled $ 9.4 million in the year 2020, compared to $ 10.2 million in 2019. Apple’s spending has also decreased slightly, totaling $ 6.7 million in 2020, only $ 7.4 million in 2019.