Meta Platforms—Meta assembled 85% revolving-door lobbying force of former government officials ahead of FTC antitrust trial
Analysis by Issue One and Public Citizen found that 85% of Meta's registered federal lobbyists were former government employees as the company faced FTC antitrust litigation. Meta's D.C. lobbying operation expanded significantly during 2023-2024, hiring former officials from DOJ, FTC, and congressional staff. This pattern of revolving-door hiring was part of a broader tech industry trend where 75% of FTC officials had corporate conflicts of interest.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regulatory Capture | +toward | secondary | -0.50 |
| Revolving Door | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Issue One reports Meta assembled extensive revolving-door lobbying force of former government employees
Analysis by Issue One found social media platforms including Meta assembled an 'influence army' in D.C. with the vast majority being former government officials. A Public Citizen report found 75% of FTC officials had corporate conflicts of interest, many tied to Big Tech companies including Meta.