Google, in its quarterly filing on Tuesday, 22 January, declared that it spent a company-record $21.2 million on lobbying the US government last year, news agency Reuters reported. This breaks the company's previous record of $18.22 million in 2012.
Social media platform Facebook, which has been under scrutiny over data leak concerns, spent $12.62 million in 2018, a hike from the previous year’s $11.51 million, the report said, citing data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
On Tuesday, other tech giants Microsoft and Apple also disclosed their expenditure on lobbying the US government.
In 2018, Microsoft spent $9.52 million on lobbying, more than its 2017 mark, but less than the company’s $10.5 million expenditure in 2013.
However, Apple Inc’s $6.62 million expenditure last year was less than its company record of $7.15 million in 2017, the Reuters report added.
With new privacy and anti-trust rules, tech giants have become more concerned about regulations from States. Google CEO Sundar Pichai has time and again said that his company backs the idea of national privacy legislation.
(With inputs from Reuters)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)