Members of Congress Who Questioned Mark Zuckerberg Had Received $641,685 From Facebook
Members of Congress Who Questioned Mark Zuckerberg Had
Received $641,685 From Facebook
By PHIL BAKER APRIL 24, 2018
Mark Zuckerberg's testimony before Congress made for great
theater, but the questioning was not without conflicts of interest: Many of
those who grilled him had received donations from Facebook.
According to The Verge, since 2014 Facebook has
contributed $641,685 to the members of Congress who questioned Zuckerberg. The
top recipients include Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), and
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA).
The hostility of the questioning did not appear to
correlate with the contributions. Sen. Orrin Hatch -- who has received $15,200
in donations in the past three years, the sixth largest amount -- asked purely
softball questions. Sen. Booker -- who has received $44,025 since 2014, the
largest amount -- asked some of the toughest questions. While these donations
are perfectly legal, perhaps committee members should be required to disclose
them at these hearings.
Facebook has just disclosed that its D.C. spending is on
the increase. The company just announced that it spent $3.3 million on its U.S.
lobbying effort during just the first quarter of 2018. This represents the
largest amount that the company has ever spent in one quarter.
Facebook's money was spent on lobbying the White House,
senators, and representatives, as well as several government agencies,
including the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission.
Its lobbying expenses were directed at privacy and security issues related to
its social network, as well as for changes to the immigration system,
“including temporary high-tech worker visas and employment-based permanent
residency.”
Facebook also provided lobbying support for DACA and net
neutrality, and has joined a lawsuit against the FCC following its decision to
overturn net neutrality protections. So Facebook has both lobbied the FCC and
sued it.
The increase in lobbying spending has been an ongoing
trend for Facebook, as well as other high-tech companies. Facebook has spent
close to $30 million since 2015 and has doubled its lobbying efforts in Europe
over the course of 2017.
In comparison, Amazon spent $3.38 million and Google
spent more than $5 million for the first quarter of 2018. Amazon lobbied on
taxes, music licensing, and drones. Google lobbied on intellectual property,
privacy, and law enforcement access to data stored abroad.
Over the full year of 2017, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and
Google spent a record amount -- about $50 million -- on lobbying. So far in
2018, these companies are on track to beat that record. In comparison with
other industries, Exxon spent $11.4 million and Merck & Co. spent $6.2M in
2017.
OpenSecrets.org lists all public corporate donations and
recipients.
Comments
Post a Comment