Amazon spends $3.4M on lobbying in record quarter

Amazon spent $3.4 million on federal lobbying over the past three months, a new record for the company in a quarter that saw its acquisition of Whole Foods quickly approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

With a total of $9.5 million spent so far in 2017, Amazon, which declined The Hill’s request for comment, is on track to surpass the $11 million it spent last year.

Other tech giants are also continuing to pour millions into lobbying as lawmakers are becoming more willing to question them over their size and influence.

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Google, which set its own quarterly record earlier this year, spent nearly $4.2 million in the third quarter, bringing its year-to-date sum to $13.6 million. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Facebook is on track to break its own record for lobbying expenditures in a year. It’s spent $8.4 million so far this year, including $2.8 million in the third quarter.

In their disclosure forms filed on Friday, the companies all listed a wide variety of issues that they lobbied on, including internet advertising regulations, privacy and tax reform.

They also all lobbied on the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, a Senate bill that many internet-based companies worry could have far-reaching effects on their industry. The bill aims to go after online sex trafficking sites by cutting into the legal immunity that platforms have when it comes to content posted by their users.

Google and Facebook are also facing scrutiny from Congress for having sold political ads to users suspected to be part of Russia’s alleged campaign to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.

Those companies, along with Twitter, will be sending their general counsels to testify before the House and Senate intelligence committees on Nov. 1.