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Internet Association lobbying efforts take a hit as Microsoft and Uber leave group
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Published onNovember 18, 2021
published onNovember 18, 2021
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As the political climate surrounding the tech industry and legislative infinitives to curb harmful or privacy violating actions continue to heat up, Microsoft and Uber have decided to leave the Internet Association.
According toa report from Axios, Microsoft and Uber are “leaving the Internet Association (IA)” which represents a lobbying consortium that operates on behalf of internet companies and tech firms within Washington DC.
The move comes after a number of large tech firms initially paused campaign donations following the January 6th attack on the US Captial. Lobbying efforts were slow to return and tech firms have since re-evaluated their broad donation policies often opting for more concerted and self-interested ones that can be at odds with members of the IA.
A trade association can only do what its members tell it to do, one person familiar with IA’s work told Axios. Facebook begging to be regulated puts the smaller companies in a bad position. It makes it hard for any organization that contains those two constituencies to be effective.
In addition to tech firms in-fighting, theIA also faces organizational issuesthat include with top lobbyists and VPs leaving the firm as well as less money to throw around in Washington.
As more IA members leave the group, members fees revenue has sunk, only generating a 1/7 the amount of money ($9M in 2019) that related firms such as NCTA which raked in $63 million during the same year.
As the heat gets turned up on legislation talks in Congress regarding tech firms and regulation, IA has been relegated to a relatively toothless intermediary as most CEO’s and VPs speak directly with state and local officials in an attempt to assuage concerns.
In the ten years since its inception, the tech industry’s relationship with consumers, users, governments and international bodies has drastically shifted and it seems firms are leveraging more direct relationships with law makers instead of calling upon IA.
IA still has roughly 40 members and small to mid-sized tech firms such as Discord, NewsBreak and others remain committed to the group.
Kareem Anderson
Networking & Security Specialist
Kareem is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. His passion for technology and content creation drives are unmatched, driving him to create well-researched articles and incredible YouTube videos.
He is always on the lookout for everything new about Microsoft, focusing on making easy-to-understand content and breaking down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security.
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Kareem Anderson
Networking & Security Specialist
He is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. He breaks down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security
