The Masters of the Universe Build a ‘Lobbying Army’ to Fight Potential Investigations

by Sean Moran

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google have reportedly amassed a “lobbying army” as they prepare to deal with an increasing amount of antitrust investigations and calls to break up the Silicon Valley Masters of the Universe.

Although America’s largest tech companies have historically stayed away from lobbying Congress, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google have transformed into some of the largest influencers in Washington, D.C.

The four technology giants have spent a combined $55 million on lobbying in 2018, doubling their previous record $27.4 million spent in 2016, and some of the tech companies are spending at an even higher rate this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The tech companies’ rapid hiring of lobbyists arises as the House Judiciary Committee announced that it will start a “top-to-bottom” investigation of America’s largest tech giants, the Donald Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will investigate Google for potential antitrust violations, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reportedly started asking Amazon’s rivals about the e-commerce giant’s business practices.

Big Tech’s rapidly growing influence puts these companies at relative parity with traditional lobbying powerhouses such as the defense, automobile, and banking industries.

The four tech companies have reportedly amassed 238 lobbyists for the first quarter of 2019, both in-house and contracted lobbyists; roughly 75 percent of the lobbyists come from government offices or political campaigns.

Big Tech’s lobbying influence extends to calls with members of Congress, advertising, funding of think-tanks, and efforts to influence President Donald Trump, who has occasionally criticized Big Tech’s censorship of conservatives and even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ ownership of the establishment Washington Post.

Breitbart News has reported that Google has donated to conservative think-tanks and publications such as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the National Review, the Cato Institute, the American Conservative Union (ACU). Many of these institutions, such as the National Review and CEI have been critical of calls to rein-in Big Tech’s dominant status and censorship of conservative and alternative viewpoints.

full story at https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/06/06/the-masters-of-the-universe-build-a-lobbying-army-to-fight-potential-investigations/