hekate/attestation-findings
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull requests Projects Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions
attestation-findings/data/processed/meta_ld2_lobbying_disclosures.md
hekate 80431e7db1 Upload files to "/"
2026-03-14 05:57:07 +00:00

11 KiB
Raw Permalink Blame History

Meta Platforms Federal Lobbying Disclosures (LD-2 Forms)

Research Date: 2026-03-13 Data Sources: Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) database, OpenSecrets, Quiver Quantitative, investigative reporting Filing: Meta Platforms Inc. Q1-Q4 2025 LD-2 Reports

Executive Summary

Confirmed: Meta's own LD-2 filings explicitly list H.R. 3149/S. 1586, the App Store Accountability Act, as a lobbied bill. This is the first direct, on-the-record evidence from Meta's own federal filings that it lobbies for the specific legislation that DCA advocates for at the state level. The bill appears under the CPI (Consumer Issues/Consumer Protection) issue code alongside "protecting children," "youth safety and federal parental approval," and "youth restrictions on social media."

This finding closes the attribution loop: Meta pays $26.3M in federal lobbying → its LD-2 filings list the App Store Accountability Act → DCA (which Meta funds) advocates for the same bill at the state level → DCA claims to be an independent grassroots coalition.

1. The App Store Accountability Act in Meta's Filings

Q1 2025 Filing

Filing UUID: b73445ed-15e5-42e7-a1e8-aeb224755267 Source: Senate LDA In-house amount: $5,840,000

Listed under CPI (Consumer Issues/Consumer Protection):

  • H.R. 3149 / S. 1586 — App Store Accountability Act

Q2 2025 Filing

In-house amount: $5,770,000–$5,960,000

  • Also explicitly lists H.R. 3149 / S. 1586 — App Store Accountability Act

Bill Details

  • H.R. 3149 — Introduced May 1, 2025 by Rep. John James (R-MI)
  • S. 1586 — Introduced May 1, 2025 by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT)
  • Purpose: Requires app stores to verify user ages before downloads
  • DCA has claimed "100+ advocate endorsements" for this bill

2. Issue Area Narrative — Child Safety Language

The full CPI issue area description in Meta's Q1 2025 filing includes:

"Issues and discussions related to technology and the Internet including privacy, security, competition, research, trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy issues; online advertising, content and platform transparency efforts; technology and engineering; protecting children, bullying prevention and online safety; youth safety and federal parental approval; human trafficking issues; data portability and interoperability; data breach; connectivity and network usage issues; platform integrity and cybersecurity; storage and access to electronic communications and encryption; manipulated media; continued conversations on Artificial Intelligence; Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act; youth restrictions on social media; issues related to online platform content in the EU; issues related to fraud and scams online; Congressional Review Act and other activity related to the CFPBs rulemaking on payment system plans and nonbank larger participants"

Key phrases:

  • "protecting children, bullying prevention and online safety"
  • "youth safety and federal parental approval"
  • "youth restrictions on social media"

The phrase "age verification" does not appear verbatim, but the App Store Accountability Act's entire purpose IS age verification at the app store level.

3. All Bills in Meta's 2025 LD-2 Filings

Bill Name Relevance
H.R. 3149 / S. 1586 App Store Accountability Act Direct ASAA lobbying confirmed
S. 1748 Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) Child safety — Meta position unclear
S. 836 COPPA 2.0 Children's privacy — would affect Meta directly
S. 1829 STOP CSAM Act Child exploitation
S. 146 TAKE IT DOWN Act Nonconsensual imagery removal
H.R. 3209 App Store Freedom Act App store regulation
S. 1367 NO FAKES Act AI/deepfake regulation
S. 1792 AI Whistleblower Protection Act AI governance
S. 2081 RISE Act AI regulation
S. 2019 TRAPS Act Payment fraud
S. 2750 SANDBOX Act Regulatory sandbox
P.L. 119-21 / H.R. 1 One Big Beautiful Bill Act Omnibus
— EARN IT Act Platform liability

Notable: Meta lobbies on both the App Store Accountability Act (which helps Meta by shifting burden to Apple/Google) AND KOSA and COPPA 2.0 (which would regulate Meta directly). Meta's lobbying position on KOSA/COPPA is likely opposition or amendment-seeking, while its position on ASAA is supportive — confirming the strategic logic of supporting legislation that burdens competitors while opposing legislation that burdens itself.

4. All Issue Area Codes

Code Issue Area
CPI Consumer Issues/Consumer Protection (includes ASAA)
HOM Homeland Security
MIA Media/Information/Internet
TAX Taxation
TRD Trade
TEC Telecommunications/Technology
CIV Civil Rights
LAW Law Enforcement/Crime
IMM Immigration
ENV Environment/Energy

5. Quarterly Spending (2025)

Quarter In-House Est. Total
Q1 $5,840,000 ~$7,990,000
Q2 $5,770,000–$5,960,000 ~$5,960,000+
Q3 ~$5,840,000 ~$5,840,000+
Q4 ~$6,500,000 ~$6,500,000+
2025 Total $26,290,000

All-time record for Meta, exceeding every other Big Tech company.

6. In-House Lobbyists (Q1 2025)

Name Notable Prior Position
Greg Maurer —
Brian Rice — (also chairs Making Our Tomorrow PAC, META California PAC)
Myriah Jordan —
Chris Herndon Former Senior Counsel, Senate Commerce & Judiciary Committees
Sandra Luff —
Chris Randle —
Kevin Martin —
Ritika Robertson — (also treasurer, Meta Platforms Inc PAC)
John Branscome Former Chief Counsel, Senate Commerce Committee
Elizabeth Carroll —
Shelly Marc —
Sonia Gill Former Senior Counsel, Senate Judiciary Committee

12 in-house lobbyists, with 3 former senior Senate committee counsel — all from committees with jurisdiction over tech regulation.

7. Outside Lobbying Firms (Selected, 2025)

Meta retained 40+ outside lobbying firms with 87 total lobbyists (85% revolving door):

Firm Notable Detail
Avoq LLC $80,000 Q1 2024; AI-focused
Blue Mountain Strategies —
Elevate Government Affairs —
Jeffries Strategies —
Mindset Advocacy Rick Dearborn (former Trump deputy chief of staff)
Stewart Strategies & Solutions Retained since 2013
Mehlman Consulting Hired April 2025; bipartisan; four former senior Republican staffers

The 87 lobbyists represent roughly one per six members of Congress — up from 65 in 2024 (32% increase).

8. The Attribution Loop — Now Complete

Meta Platforms, Inc.
    │
    ├── $26.3M federal lobbying (2025)
    │       │
    │       └── LD-2 filings EXPLICITLY LIST:
    │               "H.R. 3149/S. 1586, App Store Accountability Act"
    │               "protecting children...youth safety and federal parental approval"
    │               "youth restrictions on social media"
    │
    ├── Funds DCA (per Bloomberg, July 2025)
    │       │
    │       └── DCA advocates for App Store Accountability Act
    │           at state level in 20+ states
    │           Claims "100+ advocate endorsements" for ASAA
    │           DCA claims to be independent grassroots coalition
    │
    ├── $338,500 → Headwaters Strategies (CO lobbyists)
    │       │
    │       └── Lobbies on SB26-051 (Colorado ASAA analog)
    │
    ├── $324,992+ → 9 LA lobbying firms (12 lobbyists)
    │       │
    │       └── Drafted HB-570 language (LA ASAA)
    │           Nicole Lopez testified for Meta
    │
    └── $70M+ → Super PACs (ATEP/Forge the Future)
            │
            └── Forge the Future policy priority:
                "Empowering parents with oversight of
                 children's online activities"

Every channel now explicitly connects to ASAA or its policy framing:

  1. Federal LD-2 filings list the bill by name
  2. DCA advocates for it at state level
  3. State lobbyists draft state versions and testify
  4. Super PAC policy priorities mirror ASAA language

9. Strategic Significance

What This Confirms

Meta is simultaneously:

  1. Lobbying FOR the App Store Accountability Act (shifts age verification to Apple/Google)
  2. Lobbying ON KOSA and COPPA 2.0 (likely opposing/amending bills that would regulate Meta directly)
  3. Funding DCA to advocate for ASAA at the state level as an "independent" coalition
  4. Deploying state lobbyists to draft ASAA-model bills in 20+ states
  5. Running super PACs with ASAA-aligned policy priorities

This is not a company that happens to support child safety legislation. This is a coordinated multi-channel campaign to pass specific legislation that serves Meta's commercial interests while framing it as grassroots child protection advocacy.

The "Age Verification" Framing

Meta's LD-2 narrative uses "youth safety and federal parental approval" and "protecting children" — not "age verification." This framing choice mirrors DCA's messaging, which emphasizes "parental approval" and "child protection" rather than the technical mechanism of age verification. The consistent framing across Meta's federal filings, DCA's advocacy, and Forge the Future's policy priorities suggests coordinated messaging strategy.

Sources