By: Wall Street Journal
Date: June 9, 2022
Advocacy groups bankrolled by big technology companies have poured at least $36.4 million into TV and internet ads opposing antitrust legislation that would bar dominant tech platforms from favoring their own products and services, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis.
By comparison, groups supporting the antitrust legislation have spent about $193,000, according to a Journal analysis of data collected by AdImpact, an ad-tracking service.
Much of the tech industry spending—$13.7 million, or almost 40%—has come since May 1, ahead of a possible floor vote this summer on the bill, which has bipartisan support.
The spending marks one of the biggest ad campaigns by the powerful tech industry in recent years and reflects its fear of the disruptive potential of tougher antitrust laws.