Internet Lobbying Group Expands to California

Nearly two years after Google, Facebook and other Internet companies launched their own D.C. lobbying group, the Internet Association is expanding to open a Sacramento-based office.

The trade association announced Wednesday that it has hired Robert Callahan, a veteran California tech lobbyist for Tech America and the California Chamber of Commerce, as its California executive director.

“He has the relationships. He knows the issues,” said Michael Beckerman, president of the Internet Association, which counts Facebook, eBay, Twitter and LinkedIn among its members. “A lot of the policy we’re dealing with is not on the national level but at the state and local level, too.”

While the trade group hasn’t been around very long, it has already become a growing presence on Capitol Hill, where Beckerman and his staff of seven have made Internet companies’ and startups’ feelings known about a wide range of issues, from NSA surveillance programs and data security to privacy issues and patent troll legislation.

Although the Internet Association plans to hire more lobbyists to focus on state and local issues in the future, it’s kicking off those efforts in California because that’s where a majority of its members are based, Beckerman said. (He wrote more about why they’re focusing on Sacramento here.)

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you join us?

Our biggest supporters are our readers — and we’re so grateful to everyone who has made a contribution during our September campaign. We’re less than 1,000 contributions away from reaching our goal for the month, which in turn will allow us to say yes more often when our incredible journalists come to us with questions they want to answer and projects they want to pursue. Will you make a contribution before the month ends and support our policy coverage through 2024 and beyond?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via