Twitter has a small in-house lobbying arm and uses three K Street firms to lobby on the issues of net neutrality, patent reform, surveillance reform, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). So far this year, the company has spent $150,000 on lobbying, but spent its highest amount back in 2016 ($680,000).
Of note is the fact that Twitter's lobbyists have worked primarily in the Senate. The most troubling member of the venn might be Twitter lobbyist Dean Hingson, who worked as the Chief of Staff for then-Senator Dan Coats. Currently, Coats is the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration.
It's likely that as time goes on, Twitter's insiders will solidify their government connections. Company co-founder Jack Dorsey has stated that his “dream job” would be mayor of New York City.
Meanwhile, co-founder Evan Williams has denounced freedom of speech on the internet, as its expression on Twitter may have enabled the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency – a fact Williams regrets.
NSTAC = National Security Telecomm Advisory Committee
MAB = Management Advisory Board
