Facebook continues record lobbying spending

Facebook spent just short of $1 million dollars on lobbying from July to September this year, more than double the amount it spent during the same period a year ago, public records show.

The social network spent $980,000 on lobbying in the third quarter, a giant leap from the $360,000 it spent during the third quarter of 2011. Facebook's record lobbying spending is sign of the social network continuing to flex its muscle in Washington as it faces concerns from lawmakers on online privacy and the policies it has in place to protect its wealth of user data. Facebook's total lobbying spending for the first nine months of this year tallied in at nearly $2.6 million, almost double the $1.3 million the social network spent in all of 2011. It also marks the second quarter in a row that Facebook has spent nearly $1 million on lobbying.