🗞 Google spends the most on lobbying

The bosses of many tech giants are sceptical about the politics of Donald Trump . Still, they've boosted the support for Washington's lobbyists - especially Google.

For the first time, Google paid more than any other lobbying firm in the United States in 2017, according to the Washington Post, citing data of the US Senate. According to own data of the company it spent approximately 14.6 million euros. In 2016, the search engine provider still occupied second place behind cable operator Comcast. The first year in office of US President Donald Trump focused on topics such as immigration, tax reform and antitrust issues.

Other well-known technology companies vied more and more for the favor of politicians compared to 2016: Facebook increased its spending by 32 percent to the equivalent of almost nine million euros, while Amazon spent 51 percent more (a total of about 10.5 million euros). Apple paid the equivalent of around 5.6 million euros for the services of lobbyists - also 51 percent more than last year.

In Washington, specialized firms often persuade politicians and government agencies to do business on behalf of companies or foreign governments. Lobbying is considered controversial, as it is viewed by critics as a legal form of bribery. In the US, companies are required by law to disclose lobbying expenses to the authorities.

Source: dpa

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