Social Media Platforms Assemble Influence Army in D.C.

As social media executives prepare to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday about how their companies are failing to protect children on their platforms, federal lobbying filings show the top social media platforms have assembled an army of lobbyists as Congress tries to rein in their addictive products that put profits before safety.

Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram), ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok), X (the company formerly known as Twitter), Snap (the parent company of Snapchat), and Discord (a popular social media app for gamers) combined to spend a staggering $30 million on lobbying in 2023, according to an Issue One review of OpenSecrets data and recently filed lobbying records — an increase of 12% more than what these five companies collectively spent on lobbying in 2022.

These five companies combined to employ 142 individual lobbyists last year — or about one for every four members of Congress. Moreover, ByteDance, Discord, and Snap each spent record sums in 2023.

This lobbying spree comes as Congress is considering new guardrails for social media platforms to increase transparency and promote safe technology practices to protect children, including the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), the Platform Accountability and Transparency Act (PATA), and the Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) — all of which have bipartisan support.

“For far too long, unchecked social media companies have been harming our kids, weakening American democracy, and undermining U.S. national security,” said Alix Fraser, director of Issue One’s Council for Responsible Social Media. “Too often, Big Tech tries to drown out the voices of parents, young people, and concerned citizens through its immense influence operations and armies of lobbyists. We cannot wait any longer to protect our children, our communities, and our republic. It’s time for Congress to adopt commonsense, bipartisan solutions that factor in more than the profits of a handful of companies.”

In December, Issue One and the Council for Responsible Social Media detailed how social media companies remain largely free of any liability from the harm they cause in an indispensable report entitled “Dangerous by Design,” which also outlined several core principles that should guide federal solutions to avert the crisis we face.

Making their influence known

Of these five high-profile social media companies, Meta, which first hired federal lobbyists in 2009, spent the most on lobbying in 2023, investing $19.3 million — about $5 million more than the average amount the company has annually spent on lobbying over the past decade.

In 2023, Meta employed 71 lobbyists — about one for every eight members of Congress. 

Of these, 85% were “revolving door” lobbyists who have previously worked for the legislative or executive branches of government, according to OpenSecrets. This includes Meta’s in-house lobbyists as well as hired guns at 24 lobbying firms.

Meanwhile, ByteDance, which first hired federal lobbyists in 2019, spent a record $8.7 million on lobbying, besting its previous record — which it set in 2022 — by about $3.4 million.

In 2023, ByteDance employed 45 lobbyists — about one for every 12 members of Congress. 

Of these, 87% were “revolving door” lobbyists. This includes ByteDance’s in-house lobbyists as well as hired guns at seven lobbying firms.

For its part, Snap, which first hired federal lobbyists in 2014, spent a record $860,000 on lobbying in 2023, besting its previous record by $180,000.

In 2023, Snap employed 11 lobbyists, ten of whom were “revolving door” lobbyists. This includes Snap’s in-house lobbyists as well as hired guns at two lobbying firms.

Meanwhile, X, which first hired federal lobbyists in 2013, spent $850,000 on lobbying in 2023, a decrease of about 36% from its 2022 lobbying expenditures.

In 2023, X employed eight lobbyists, five of whom were “revolving door” lobbyists. This includes X’s in-house lobbyists as well as hired guns at two lobbying firms.

And Discord spent a record $240,000 on lobbying in 2023, topping its 2022 lobbying — the first year the company hired lobbyists — by $90,000.

In 2023, Discord employed seven lobbyists, three of whom were “revolving door” lobbyists. All of Discord’s lobbying in 2023 was through a hired lobbying firm.

Other Big Tech orgs also ramp up influence operations

These five companies aren’t the only ones making their presence known in Washington.

Federal filings show that two tech-focused trade associations — TechNet and NetChoice — also spent record sums on lobbying in 2023.

TechNet, a trade association formed in 1997 whose members today include tech giants such as Alphabet, Meta, and Snap, spent more than $3 million on lobbying in 2023, a record for the group by more than $1 million and an increase of 65% from 2022. The bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act was among the pieces of legislation the trade association lobbied on last year.

And NetChoice, a trade association formed in 2001 whose members today include tech giants such as Alphabet, Amazon, ByteDance, Meta, Snap, and X, spent a record $540,000 on lobbying. According to filings submitted to Congress, it lobbied on “issues related to antitrust, Section 230, and privacy.”

Additionally, Amazon spent $19.9 million on lobbying in 2023. Alphabet (the parent company of Google and YouTube) spent $14.3 million. Microsoft spent roughly $10.5 million. And OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) hired its first-ever federal lobbyists and spent $260,000.