Post #276890

2026-02-12 23:40 UTC

Presenting the Big Tech Lobby Playbook - SOMO In the EU, around three-quarters of Google’s and Meta’s accredited EU lobbyists are former EU or member-state public officials, for example. Big Tech is everywhere, but it does not speak alone. As the cases in this series show, tech giants leverage (and sometimes create) trade industry bodies, as well as working with and paying consultancies and think-tanks that then amplify their arguments. They can also afford, as they did in the EU, to run massive ad campaigns, using traditional media tools. But this influence architecture is just the beginning. The tech giants also engage in the process known as astroturfing – funding groups that claim to defend the interests of small businesses and consumers, to make it appear there is a grassroots constituency that “independently” supports Big Tech positions. This network of amplifiers enables Big Tech to create an echo chamber and dominate public and policy debates while obscuring at least some of its influence. And Big Tech’s rent-a-voice approach is augmented by another playbook tactic that is unique to them. https://www.somo.nl/presenting-the-big-tech-lobby-playbook/ #BigTech #Technology #EU #US #Monopoly #Democracy #Politics

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@nikoleavic@fe.disroot.org 2026-02-12 23:45

The Big Tech Lobby Playbook How Big Tech’s power has rewritten digital rules globally Big Tech has taken corporate lobbying to a whole new level. These companies have an influence that even Big Tobacco and Big Oil could only dream of. The tech giants have bottomless pockets and a powerful playbook they deploy to influence and shape laws all around the world. The strategies set out in the ‘Big Tech Lobby Playbook’ are not unique to Big Tech, but they are being employed in ways that are distinctive to the tech giants. These companies don’t just engage with lawmakers and policy processes – they shape the very environment in which laws are imagined and debated. At the heart of this is the sheer extent of these firms’ monopoly power. Big Tech firms that control the digital infrastructure of today’s societies have not been afraid to weaponise it to advance their policy agendas. Having allowed companies to gain such market dominance, governments now find themselves hostages to it. This sets their playbook apart from standard corporate lobbying. https://www.somo.nl/big-tech-lobby-playbook/ #BigTech #Technology #society #SME #EU #Brazil #Australia #Kenya #India #government #corporations #democracy

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