Amazon and Meta each spent record amounts lobbying Washington lawmakers in 2021, report says

• Meta and Amazon each spent more than $20 million lobbying Washington in 2021, The Hill reports.
• This marked a record high for both companies, according to The Hill.

Tech giants Meta and Amazon each spent record amounts lobbying Washington lawmakers in 2021, according to congressional filings seen by The Hill.

Amazon spent $20.3 million on lobbying in 2021, while Meta spent $20.1 million, the most either company has spent in a single year, according to The Hill. Insider was unable to review the filings.

Regulators are ramping up the pressure on Big Tech. The Senate on Friday took a big step towards passing the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, which would ban large tech companies from using their platforms to give their products an advantage over competitors'.

In 2020, Amazon spent $18.8 million and Meta spent $19.7 million on lobbying, according to lobbying tracking organization Open Secrets.

Amazon and Meta outspent fellow tech giants Google and Apple by a considerable margin in 2021, with Google spending $9.6 million and Apple, $6.5 million, according to The Hill.

Senator Ted Cruz said he spent 40 minutes talking directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook about the bill on Wednesday, CNBC reported. Cook said in 2019 he doesn't believe in lobbyists.