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US: Tech companies spent big on lobbying in 2018

By  |  January 23, 2019

Alphabet’s Google disclosed on Tuesday, January 22, that it spent a company-record US$21.2 million on lobbying the United States government in 2018, topping its previous high of US$18.22 million in 2012, as the search engine operator fights wide-ranging scrutiny into its practices, Reuters reported.

Google said in a quarterly disclosure to Congress that it spent US$4.9 million on lobbying activities during the fourth quarter, slightly above US$4.4 million in the same period a year ago. The 2018 total also surpassed US$18.04 million spent on lobbying in 2017, according to tracking of the filings by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Facebook Inc disclosed that it also spent its most ever on US government lobbying in 2018, US$12.62 million. That was up from US$11.51 million a year ago, according to the Center for Responsive Politics data.

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