Big Tech Is Making An Investment In Congress

By Aída Chávez, The Nation

While a bipartisan antitrust bill targeting Big Tech makes its way through Congress, industry giants have been showering both Democrats and Republicans with tens of thousands of dollars in contributions. Their political action committees, executives, and lobbyists have targeted both critics and supporters of the legislation, which is aimed at reining in some of the most powerful tech companies in the world.

Google’s PAC made maxed-out contributions of $15,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee just one day after the bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. The PAC also made maxed-out donations to the four congressional campaign committees in June 2021, shortly after the House Judiciary Committee approved its package of antitrust bills.

The Justice Department recently threw its support behind the legislation, led by Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, which would ban giants like Amazon and Google from favoring their own products over rivals’ on their platforms. Tech companies have aggressively fought the antitrust measures, spending nearly $70 million on lobbying Washington in 2021.