Facebook Sets Lobbying Record Amid Cambridge Analytica Fallout

Facebook set a company record for lobbying spending in the second quarter, according to Bloomberg. During the period CEO Zuckerberg testified before Congress and the social media giant faced ongoing fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

The company spent almost $3.7 million on influencing federal policy from April to June, according to filings. That’s an increase of more than $1 million from a year earlier, and up slightly from $3.3 million in the first quarter, when the company set its previous high. Facebook lobbied on data security and privacy, as well as issues including trade, immigration of highly-skilled workers and an online election-ad disclosure bill, the filings show.

While Zuckerberg performed better than many expected, and several lawmakers received criticism for ill-informed questions that let him answer in generalities, the hearings made clear that key representatives and senators on both sides of the aisle might be willing to regulate tech companies. Soon after the hearings, Facebook also named a new head of U.S. public policy, former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican.

Its woes still weren’t over: In June, Facebook faced a renewed round of scorn on Capitol Hill after it disclosed that it had data-sharing partnerships with four Chinese consumer-device makers, including Huawei. The Chinese smartphone giant spent $50,000 as it pushed back against a proposed ban by the FCC and found itself caught by the increasing pressure on China over trade and national security.

Another Chinese firm, ZTE, also spent a company record of almost $1.4 million, according to filings, more than five times its previous record of $260,000 as it contended with U.S. moves that had choked off the company’s revenue and pushed it to suspend major operations.

Spending by other tech companies wasn’t as robust as Facebook’s increase compared to a year earlier. Google spent more than $5.8 million, down slightly from the second quarter of 2017, and Microsoft spent $2.6 million, up from $2.1 million. In telecom lobbying, AT&T spent nearly $4.6 million, up from almost $4.2 million.