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Facebook paid millions to US politicians for immunity: Report

Saturday, 22 January 2022 6:27 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 22 January 2022 9:34 PM ]

This file picture shows the logo of Facebook, now called Meta

Facebook, now known as Meta, has given millions of dollars to US politicians to help the firm resolve the growing number of political and legal issues the company is facing.

According to the company's latest disclosure filings submitted to Congress and cited by the Hill on Friday, Facebook was lobbying against the antitrust legislation moving through the House and Senate targeting Silicon Valley's controversial business practices and the power of the Big Tech companies.

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Facebook was also lobbying to maintain the firm's autonomy in content moderation, election integrity, blockchain policy, among other issues challenging the company through proposed legislation.

The record lobbying surge, which moved upward of $20 million in the year, came as the company faced the most serious political crisis in its history sparked by revelations from whistleblower Frances Haugen.

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Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen warned that the social media platform’s shift to developing a virtual reality world, known as “metaverse,” poses new safety concerns.

Haugen warned the public that the social media giant, who also controlled Instagram and WhatsApp, among other subsidiaries, maintained a dangerous online monopoly that constituted a real serious threat.

In an interview with The Associated Press in Nov. 2021, Haugen said her former employer had come under a lot of pressure after she revealed its deep-seated problems and energized legislative and regulatory efforts around the world to crack down on Big Tech companies.

The monopolistic policies of giant US Big Tech companies; namely, Meta (Facebook), Amazon, Google (Alphabet Inc), Apple, and Microsoft have also been targeted by rights groups.

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The Tech Oversight Project says the Big Tech companies were hurting public consumers and small businesses.

It said to counter the firms' influence; they were campaigning for regulation against the powerful and dangerous policies targeting the public.

We aim to "finally break up the Big Tech monopolies that hurt consumers and small businesses,” the Tech Oversight Project’s executive director, Sacha Haworth,

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