In an op-ed for The New York Times, Alvaro Bedoya writes that Silicon Valley's lobbying power should not be underestimated. Bedoya writes that not since 2009 has Congress passed a new major privacy law. He also notes that since 2009, Facebook increased its lobbying expenditure fiftyfold. Even still, the $11.5 million Facebook spent in 2017 still falls behind the capital spent by Amazon and Alphabet on lobbying efforts. Bedoya writes that while the recent data-harvesting scandal may pave the way for more serious reforms to take place, Americans should have an awareness of the industry's reach into Congress. Meanwhile, Facebook recently announced it no longer opposes the California ballot initiative seeking to establish consumer privacy rights and expanded liability for consumer data breaches.
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