Seventeen media outlets from across the world came together to investigate how the Big Tech lobby is operating globally.
Natalia Viana of Nieman Reports writes, “After an in-person meeting in Colombia hosted by the Centro Latinoamericano de Periodismo de Investigación (CLIP), which coordinated the project with us, we launched a task force whose work lasted about nine months. During that time, more than 40 journalists made hundreds of information requests in countries from Paraguay to Australia, analyzed records of visits to governments and lawmakers, read corporate and government reports, and interviewed hundreds of sources, including legislators, politicians, lobbyists, experts, activists, victims of the technology market, and insiders. These journalists collaborated to paint the most complete picture of Big Tech’s antiregulation activities to date.
“What we found was quite surprising: Even though the lobby is on the rise everywhere — today Big Tech is the sector that spends the most on lobbying in the European Union and is one of the largest spenders in the U.S. — there is little data about how they operate in the Global South, where lobbying is not regulated.
“In the developing world, due to the power and economic imbalance, their impact is even wider. To be sure, Big Tech companies have more money than many countries.”
Read more here.
