US: Facebook, Amazon spend millions on lobbying amid antitrust scrutiny

Facebook and Amazon have been spending big to influence government policy on Capitol Hill. Each company has spent around US$4 million on lobbying in the second quarter of 2019, reported CNBC.

Another tech giant, Google, spent much less, at US$2.9 million for the quarter. Apple was the lowest spender in the pack, at US$1.8 million for the second quarter.

These four tech companies are currently embroiled in an antitrust investigation which began at the beginning of June. The investigation aims to find out whether these companies have too much influence over the market and whether they have been violating antitrust law.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrod Nadler (Democrat – New York) has said that “there is growing evidence that a growing handful of gatekeepers have come to capture control over key arteries of online commerce, content and communications.”

Democratic presidential candidates have also taken aim at the big tech companies, with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren vowing to “break up big tech” and introduce legislation if elected president that would set new antitrust standards for the companies.