A bombshell report yesterday in the Guardian has shed new light on Meta’s shady lobbying tactics in its victory-at-any-cost efforts to kill a Colorado bill aimed at protecting kids online.
According to Colorado parents and advocates, as the kids online safety bill neared bipartisan passage over the objections of Meta, Google, and TikTok, a defunct conservative gun rights group – the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) – suddenly came on the scene to lobby against it. Despite being bankrupt for the last four years, the group suddenly “had tons of money,” funding a last-minute, “massive social media and email” campaign that was “incessant.”
Coloradans believe Meta and Big Tech were behind the infusion of cash.
“Meta and their Big Tech lobbyists have shown once again the unscrupulous lengths they’ll go to kill bills requiring they take responsibility for designing products that harm and addict children,” said Sacha Haworth, Executive Director of The Tech Oversight Project. “Meta knows they are despised and blamed by parents, kids, and lawmakers alike, and the clock is ticking on their time operating with impunity. So Meta pours cash into a zombie front group instead of putting their name on the effort. They are cowards.”