Apple and facebook, both notoriously absent in Washington affairs, have been named as companies who should consider taking up an interest in Capitol Hill proceedings. Some worry that the companies’ lack of formal lobbying efforts may lead to unfavorable regulations being imposed.
Politico reports that Facebook executives believe that usage of the social media network by politicians speaks for itself. “We don’t have to spend money, because our users are tremendously happy with our product,” Tim Sparapani, director of public policy told the publication. Sparapani is one of two individuals registered to lobby on facebook’s behalf. Still, patron satisfaction has not spared facebook from being touted as an example of need for increased privacy regulation.
Fears have also begun to surface about scrutiny Apple may face over antitrust regulation. Increased popularity of iTunes and the iPhone have opened the door for increased attention from lawmakers and those investigating anti-poaching and antitrust regulations. To this point, Apple has managed to corner only a small piece of the technological market, and as such, only employs lobbyists on patent, tax, and trade regulation.
The Washington Post reports that the company should consider taking a more active role in studying legislation, noting the fates of companies like Microsoft and Google, each of which has faced FTC probes in recent years, and warns that if it doesn’t step up its lobbying efforts, it will spend more money trying to fight regulation than moving forward with its agenda.
