Facebook, Amazon, and Google lead the pack in public affairs spending as the industry seeks to present a positive message to policymakers, regulators, and press influencers in Washington, London, Paris, Brussels, and Tokyo. 

Plus breaking up Silicon Valley giants will be a popular and well-used talking point on the American campaign trail for Election 2020. 

Even if Capitol Hill is in gridlock, the European Union and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority have become more and more aggressive on the competition. 

Also, France has warned the US that it will face retaliation from the EU if it tries to impose “highly disproportionate” trade tariffs in response to the EU’s digital tax on the likes of Google and Amazon.

Finally, the Japanese government is set to force the likes of Google and Facebook to disclose the terms of their contracts with customers, and also to be more transparent about their operations.

Will Silicon Valley be proactive and take steps to self-regulate and spin-off new companies or be arrogant become distracted by beating off state attorneys general and trial lawyers?

-Marc