After rebranding itself as Meta, Facebook increased its lobbying, spending $20 million in 2021 as compared to the previous year when it spent $19million. This article by Byonce Tyus is published by Open Secrets. Here is an excerpt:

Meta, the new name adopted by Facebook in a recent rebrand, spent over $20 million on lobbying in 2021, breaking the $19 million record it set the year before. The company also spent just over $5.4 million in the last quarter of the year, breaking the previous record quarter of nearly $5.3 million spent in the first quarter of 2020.

On its own, Amazon.com spent $19.3 million on lobbying in 2021 with fourth quarter spending at $5 million. Meta spent $500,000 more than Amazon during the fourth quarter of 2021, and over $2 million more for the overall year. With its subsidiaries, Amazon Web Services and online pharmacy PillPack, Amazon’s lobbying spending totals nearly $20.6 million with its highest quarter spending at $5.2 million. 

Google spent less than its technology counterparts in lobbying last year, at $9.6 million. For the overall year, Meta spent over $10 million more than Google. When comparing their highest quarters, in which Google spent nearly $2.7 million during its first quarter, Meta spent $2 million more. Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., spent a total of $11.7 million in 2021 including Google and its other subsidiaries.

Read the full article here.