Big Tech has taken corporate lobbying to a whole new level. These companies have an influence that even Big Tobacco and Big Oil could only dream of.

The tech giants have bottomless pockets and a powerful playbook they deploy to influence and shape laws all around the world. The strategies set out in the ‘Big Tech Lobby Playbook’ are not unique to Big Tech, but they are being employed in ways that are distinctive to the tech giants. These companies don’t just engage with lawmakers and policy processes – they shape the very environment in which laws are imagined and debated.

In this session we will dive into examples across the world of Big Tech lobbying, and highlight how tech giants are driving EU deregulation.

Margarida Silva is a researcher at SOMO, a research NGO investigating multinationals.

Bram Vranken is a campaigner and researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), a Brussels-based lobby watchdog.