[governance] Facebook spent $4 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers in 2012
Guru गुरु
Guru at ITforChange.net
Wed Jan 23 19:56:30 EST 2013
"Tech companies are spending exorbitant sums to advance their agendas in
Washington. In 2012, Google spent $16.48 million and Microsoft spent
$8.09 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers."... I wonder what are the
implications for democratic internet governance and democracy?? ...
regards
Guru
Facebook spent $4 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers in 2012
The social network is spending millions to advance a pro-Facebook agenda
in the nation's capital. Cue the cynicism.
Jennifer Van Grove
January 23, 2013 1:58 PM PST
Facebook wined and dined U.S. lawmakers and racked up a tab close to $4
million during 2012, an increase of 196 percent over its courting costs
in the previous year.
According to disclosure forms, Facebook spent $1.4 million in the fourth
quarter to lobby government officials on foreign relations matters,
online privacy issues, data security, immigration reform, and online
advertising. The fourth-quarter lobby spend is Facebook's first $1
million-plus quarter; the $1.4 million figure is just $200,000 less than
the company's combined lobbying costs for the first and second quarters
of 2012. The bigger-by-the-month spending trend is sure to continue as
the company pushes to expand its user base to kids under the age of 13,
experiments with facial recognition technology, and gets more aggressive
with its online and mobile advertising tactics.
"Our presence and growth in Washington reflect our commitment to
explaining how our service works, the actions we take to protect the
billion plus people who use our service, the importance of preserving an
open Internet, and the value of innovation to our economy," a Facebook
representative told CNET.
The more cynical view, of course, is that Facebook is buying its way to
favorable laws that will allow it to do more with more member data.
Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit organization that exposes political
injustice, holds this more extreme perspective. "Google and Facebook
would have you believe that they are different from other corporations.
They are not. They are following the corrupt corporate tradition in
Washington: buying what you want," the organization's privacy project
director, John M. Simpson, said in a statement. Simpson's right about
one thing: tech companies are spending exorbitant sums to advance their
agendas in Washington. In 2012, Google spent $16.48 million and
Microsoft spent $8.09 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers.
source -
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57565507-93/facebook-spent-$4-million-to-lobby-u.s-lawmakers-in-2012/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=title
--
Gurumurthy Kasinathan
Director, IT for Change
/In Special Consultative Status with the United Nations ECOSOC
/www.ITforChange.Net | Cell:91 9845437730 | Tel:91 80 26654134, 26536890
How ICTs can transform teacher education - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-kgSW_o9z8&feature=youtu.be
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