Illustration: Nick Barclay / The Verge

Meta had its biggest lobbying quarter ever in the first few months of 2024, spending a record $7.6 million engaging with the US government, according to its public lobbying filing released last week.

It’s a 64 percent jump from its spending in the fourth quarter of 2023 and represents more than a third of what Meta spent on lobbying the entirety of last year. The blockbuster quarter underscores just how much pending legislation is aimed at Meta and its peers — on everything from data privacy, kids online safety, and content moderation.

Still, Meta says the sharp uptick is largely due to compensation for its lobbying team. “The increase in Meta’s lobbying expenditures is due principally to operating expenses, including changes to the…

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