[governance] Facebook spent $4 million to lobby U.S. lawmakers in 2012

[Guru गुरु]

"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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