Big Tech's Lobbying Expenses Rose by 15% in H1

With the US government gradually moving towards putting more pressure on big tech, the four companies have increased their spending on lobbying efforts.

Amazon spent a record $4.98 million on lobbying in Q2 as Congress intensified efforts to pass legislation intended to crack down on technology giants. Amazon’s lobbying expenditures increased 2.5% over the second quarter of 2021, according to disclosure reports.

Apple spent $1.9 million, which marks a slight decrease compared to its record $2.5 million In Q1 this year. However, as the chart shows, this is already enough to set a new annual spending record.

Google, in its turn spent $2.77 million, marking a 32% increase from a year earlier and a 6.4% decrease from $2.96 million in the first three months of the year.

Microsoft, which surprisingly did not try to put barriers on the Congress' way and did not oppose the antitrust legislation, spent $2.41 million on lobbying in the second quarter, a 2.4% decrease since last year.

Two top tech trade groups, Netchoice and Technet, both spent more on lobbying in the second quarter than a year ago. Netchoice, a right-leaning trade association that counts Amazon, Google and Meta among its members, spent $120,000, up about 200% from $40,000 in last year’s second quarter. Technet spent $300,000 in the three months ending in June, up 42.9% from the same period last year.