Tech giant Apple last week told Politico it would withhold support for the Republican National Convention due to comments made by Donald Trump. Apple competitors Google and Facebook are still supporters though, with Google providing the official live stream, and Facebook providing “financial and other“ support.
Generally, all of the technology giants have been ramping up their U.S. political activity to unprecedented levels, a significant shift in strategy from a decade ago when these firms deliberately avoided Washington.
From political campaign contributions to snapping up former White House staffers, this step up in activity has the potential to influence public policy in a problematic way. That’s because, while technology companies have embraced Washington, not all have embraced political disclosure.
Apple doesn’t have a political action committee, but it does disclose its public policy advocacy. Some of its tech giant competitors have been less than transparent.
Google Ranks Poorly on Political Disclosure
Exhibit A is Google. The Center for Political Accountability ranks it in the fourth tier, among the lowest among S&P 500 companies, of the 2015 CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability. In contrast, Apple ranks in the second tier and is substantially more transparent than Google.
Google’s parent company Alphabet is now battling with Apple to become the world’s largest company by market capitalization. Investors want to know how Google will continue to achieve growth, and consumers and the public are concerned about how this corporate giant will wield its influence.
