Big Tech Cozies Up to New Administration After Spending Record Sums on Lobbying Last Year

The influence of Big Tech was visible from every angle during inauguration activities in the nation’s capital early this week.

While the tech industry has long favored Democrats, Big Tech companies including Amazon, Meta, Google, and Microsoft demonstrated their allegiance to the new administration well before Inauguration Day, each giving $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee. All the while Elon Musk, the executive chairman and chief technology officer of X, contributed more than $250 million to pro-Trump groups during the 2024 election cycle.

As Trump was sworn into a second term as president, he was joined not only by Cabinet members and other political allies, but also by tech executives including Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, and Google’s Sundar Pichai.

As Big Tech cozies up to the new administration, its influence on Capitol Hill has never been stronger. A new Issue One analysis of recently filed federal lobbying reports found that several major tech companies spent record-breaking amounts on their lobbying operations in 2024, as Congress debated new legislation designed to protect kids online, create data privacy safeguards, and guard against undue influence of foreign adversaries.

Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), Alphabet (the parent company of Google and YouTube), Microsoft, ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok), X (formerly known as Twitter), and Snap (the parent company of Snapchat) combined to spend a staggering $61.5 million on lobbying in 2024 — an increase of nearly 13% compared to spending in 2023. And half of these companies — Meta, ByteDance, and Snap — spent record sums.

Together, these six companies employed nearly 300 lobbyists in 2024 — or one for every two members of Congress.

The Big Tech Oligarchy

Social media giants Meta and ByteDance together spent more than $240,000 on lobbying per day that Congress was in session in 2024. The two companies’ influence operations collectively included more than 120 lobbyists, or one lobbyist for every five members of Congress.

Meta alone spent a record $24.4 million on lobbying in 2024 — a 27% increase from what it spent on lobbying in 2023, and the most the company has spent on lobbying in any year since it first started federal lobbying in 2009. This included $5.6 million between October and December. Meta’s 2024 lobbying efforts were powered by 65 lobbyists — one for every eight members of Congress.

ByteDance spent a record $10.4 million on lobbying in 2024 — an approximately 19% increase from what it spent on lobbying in 2023. This marked the most the company has spent on lobbying in any year since it first hired federal lobbyists in 2019. This included $2.3 million in the fourth quarter alone. ByteDance’s 2024 lobbying efforts were powered by 55 lobbyists — one for every ten members of Congress — and came at a time when its Chinese government-aligned owners are trying to avoid divesting or shutting down to comply with a law passed with bipartisan support in early 2024.

“This record-breaking lobbying blitz from social media companies is part of their strategy to curry favor with powerful politicians,” said Issue One Senior Research Director Michael Beckel. “It’s no coincidence that tech companies spent tens of millions of dollars cozying up to politicians as commonsense safeguards for a healthier online environment failed during the last Congress. While tech titans are putting up a fight, bipartisan momentum continues to build to combat the toxic online information environment that hurts our kids, our national security, and our democracy.”

Issue One Vice President of Technology Reform Alix Fraser added: “The reason the bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act that passed the Senate in a 91-3 vote died in the House at the end of the last Congress was simple: money. Tech companies killed a commonsense product liability bill that would have protected children. As a result, more kids will die this year because tech titans’ money thwarted congressional action.”

Three other major tech companies — and one tech-aligned trade association — also intensified their lobbying operations on Capitol Hill in 2024.

• Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, spent $14.8 million on lobbying in 2024, a 2% increase from what it spent in 2023. This included $3.7 million in the fourth quarter alone.
• OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, spent $1.8 million on lobbying in 2024. This included $510,000 in the fourth quarter alone. The company has now spent $2 million on lobbying since it first hired federal lobbyists in November 2023 — likely a harbinger of the coming lobbying blitz on artificial intelligence issues that is emerging as a hot-button topic on Capitol Hill.
• Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, spent a record $950,000 on lobbying in 2024, a 10% increase from what it spent in 2023 and the most it has spent on lobbying since it first hired federal lobbyists in 2014. This included $170,000 in the fourth quarter alone.
• NetChoice — a trade association formed in 2001 whose members include tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Snap, and X — spent a record $677,500 on lobbying in 2024, a 25% increase from what it spent in 2023 and the most it has spent on lobbying since it first hired federal lobbyists in 2010. This included $127,500 in the fourth quarter alone. NetChoice also acts in other ways to hinder legislation it opposes, such as suing to block implementation of measures such as California’s age appropriate design bill.

Among tech giants, two large companies — Microsoft and X — each invested modestly less on lobbying in 2024 than in 2023.

• Microsoft spent $10.4 million on lobbying in 2024, a decrease of about 2% from what it spent in 2023.
• X spent $720,000 on lobbying in 2024, a decrease of about 15% from what it spent in 2023.

As a new Congress and new administration take the reins in Washington, one thing is certain: Tech giants want friends in high places, and these companies will use every tool at their disposal to make sure their voices are heard in policy debates all around the nation’s capital.