Social media network Facebook has spent $3.3 million in the first quarter 2018 lobbying on issues including federal privacy legislation, online advertising, internet privacy and security after the Cambridge Analytica data breach was revealed, Bloomberg reported.
Facebook had spent $3.21 million, according to disclosures filed with the government Friday, in the same period a year earlier.
Facebook was hit by revelations that data on millions of users had been improperly obtained by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that worked on US President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was grilled on the issue by Congress in April and some members of both parties are considering privacy legislation.
Google spent $5.02 million on lobbying in the first quarter, up 43 percent from a year earlier and 14 percent from the last quarter of 2017, according to its filing.
Microsoft disclosed spending $2.3 million on lobbying in the first quarter, including on the data-request bill, the same as a year earlier and up 6 percent from the fourth quarter. Amazon spent $3.38 million in first three months, up 17 percent from a year earlier and 2 percent higher than the fourth quarter.
Apple spent $2.14 million, up 53 percent from a year earlier and 33 percent from the fourth quarter.
Facebook said in its disclosure that it lobbied the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives and government agencies including the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission.
