Social media companies 'friend' politics
WASHINGTON -- Some high-tech and social media companies are paying big bucks to "friend" Washington's power brokers.
While spending on lobbying has slowed for some sectors, it has surged for fast-growing high-tech firms that have faced increased scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators over their privacy policies and other business practices, lobbying reports filed recently with Congress show.
Facebook spent $910,000 to lobby Congress and federal agencies during the first nine months of the year, more than twice what it spent on lobbying in all of 2010. Google pumped nearly $2.4 million into lobbying in the July-to-September period, record spending for the company.
The search-engine giant now employs nearly two dozen lobbying firms. Microsoft, meanwhile, spent nearly $1.9 million in the third quarter, according to the lobbying reports filed last week.
"For all the newness, creativity and entrepreneurship that these social media companies have displayed, this is a recognition that the game of politics is played the same old way," said Ellen Miller, executive director of the non-partisan Sunlight Foundation, which tracks lobbying activity. "You hire lobbyists. You make contributions. You do your best to influence all aspects of Washington to support your industry."
As part of Facebook's expanding political footprint, the company recently launched a political action committee. Last month, the company's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg hosted a $35,800 per person fundraiser for President Obama at her California home. The company also will co-sponsor a GOP presidential debate.
The increased lobbying "represents a continuation of our efforts to explain how our service works as well as the important actions we take to protect people who use our service and promote the value of innovation to our economy," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in an e-mail.
Facebook has lobbied on a slew of privacy bills this year, including a measure pushed by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., that would require online companies to receive parental permission before collecting information from minors.
Google spokeswoman Samantha Smith said lobbying helps "policymakers understand our business and the work we do to keep the Internet open, to encourage innovation and to create economic opportunity."
Silicon Valley executives will have another chance to meet lawmakers this week. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee hosts a fundraising conference Friday with executives from Google, Facebook, Microsoft and other tech firms, a Sunlight Foundation post shows.
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