The Internet craze has watched Facebook and Google become unusually powerful concerns. And these firms mean business about making a mark in the world with the money and power they have amassed as shown by their expensive lobbying efforts in Washington D.C. Leena Rao has reported for Fox Business "Facebook, Google Spent Record Amounts on Lobbying in Q3 2011." Google spent more than ever on lobbying this quarter, with spending of $2.38 million, which is nearly double what the firm spent on lobbying in the same period last year. And last quarter, Google spent $2.08 million lobbying lawmakers. Last year the firm spent a total of $5.2 million in lobbying. Already this year Google has spent $5.8 million on lobbying in the first three quarters of 2011.
Google's lobbying strategy has been most recently focusing on "patent reform, data privacy, The American Jobs Act, freedom of expression and intellectual property in international trade agreements, online advertising regulation, intellectual property and trademark issues, cyber security and online privacy, renewable energy, freedom of expression and censorship, “openness and competition in the online services market,” cloud computing, tax reform, free trade, and broadband access."
Although Facebook's lobbying expenses are small in comparison to Google the firm still spent $360,000 in lobbying efforts this past quarter. This is more than the firm spent on lobbying in all of 2010. And Facebook is planning to spend well over $1 million on lobbying in 2011. Areas of interest for lobbying efforts by Facebook include "global regulation of software companies and restrictions on internet access by foreign governments; patent reform, online safety measures, internet privacy regulations, freedom of expression on the Internet; discussion of location-based services, cyber security, discussing House, Senate, and Government rules to allow more Government and Congressional offices to access social media to engage with citizens, and lobbying for Oregon power and water needs to support high-tech growth and investment in Oregon." A new,energy-efficient data center was opened by Facebook in Oregon in April.
And Facebook has filed to form its own political action committee, which is aimed at allowing the company make direct contributions to candidates and parties, and to spend large amounts of money on other efforts such as independent ad campaigns. In consideration of how both Facebook and Google have dramatically expanded their lobbying efforts it looks as if a a new era of "The World According to Facebook and Google" has come upon us. This is at the same time both interesting in an intriguing cyberspace Internet era and yet troubling to other special interest groups such as independent human rights groups who would also like the opportunity to have something to say about shaping the future of America but who are not in a position to tap the same enormous financial resources as these Internet giants.
Photographer: digitalart
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