A look at 3C, a “grassroots” SMB group against Big Tech regulation, funded by Google and Amazon, which claims support from 20+ SMBs that haven't heard of it
The council’s assertion that it represents small businesses is weakened by reports that more than 20 listed supporters had not heard of it, putting its public-facing advocacy on behalf of Google and Amazon under sharper credibility pressure.
Google and Amazon’s funding relationship becomes central to how policymakers and small-business audiences assess the council’s anti-regulation messaging.
Second-order effects
Other tech-backed advocacy campaigns, including Google’s SMB outreach and Meta-backed American Edge, face greater incentive to substantiate member participation and disclose sponsor relationships when presenting themselves as grassroots.
Small businesses become a more contested advocacy constituency: technology companies seek their opposition to antitrust measures, while policymakers can more closely distinguish direct business views from sponsor-organized campaigns.
Third-order effects
If sponsor-funded groups continue to use grassroots branding, the policy debate over Big Tech regulation will increasingly turn on the provenance and verification of constituent support, not only on the substantive proposals.
Tech lobbying is becoming more distributed across issue-specific coalitions rather than confined to company-led advocacy, making funding transparency a central test of representation.
The trend: Big Tech’s regulatory response is expanding through sponsor-funded coalitions that seek to mobilize small-business voices against antitrust intervention.
NEW: A lobbying group funded by Amazon and Google claims to represent thousands of U.S. small businesses. The only problem — dozens of those small businesses say they've never heard of the Connected Commerce Council. https://www.politico.com/...
I called almost 200 businesses and spoke to 70 for this piece. I hope you read it — I think it says a lot about how the big tech lobby is operating right now. https://www.politico.com/...
Google and Amazon funded lobbying group lists hundreds of small businesses as members. Many had no idea they were: “I signed up for what looks like a webinar and now it seems like they're using my name like I'm for their policies.” https://www.politico.com/...
Until Monday, the council listed the payments company Square (now known as Block) as a “partner” of the council. When I called Square to ask about that, executives there had never heard of the council. They asked that the council remove Square's logo from their website.
When we called small businesses that had been listed as members of the Connected Commerce Council in Washington, more than 20 of them said they were not members or had not heard of the group.
Astroturf SMB group lobbying against anti-trust, funded by Google & Amazon caught lying about SMB members. Problem: “Montgomery says he's not a member & has never heard of the Connected Commerce Council. The blacksmith told CNBC he would never join a tech lobbying group in DC” ht…
the fight against Big Tech needs to internalize: -they're not afraid to break law. they do it often. meager fines they pay the rare times they're caught are considered cost of doing biz -they don't have ethics, morals -thus nothing is off the table in their quest to get richer ht…
Telecom giants used this exact same tactic against us in the fight for #netneutrality. It's always amazing to me how brazen it is. It's like they know that it doesn't matter if/when they get caught, as long as they can sow enough doubt to give lawmakers cover to vote their way ht…
Not sketchy at all: “I signed up for what looks like a webinar and now it seems like they're using my name like I'm for their policies,” said one woman who's listed as a member of Big Tech lobbying group, Connected Commerce Council. https://twitter.com/...
There is a small army of advocates fighting antitrust and data protection laws bankrolled by Google, Facebook, Amazon using small business to claim credibility. Connected Commerce Council was near the top to the tune of seven figures apparently. https://www.cnbc.com/... https://t…
lol, an old policy and lobbying classic. either hijack or create entirely new organizations whose entire purpose is to create the illusion of support for what's usually anti-consumer, anti-competitive policies AT&T's policy folks adore this particular game https://t.co/iLveySUfdR
I mean it won't surprise anyone but Google and Facebook regularly engage in forms of political fraud, like grabbing random small businesses and sticking their names on made-up trade associations lobbying against antitrust actions. https://www.cnbc.com/...
This is my surprised face 😐 Google and Amazon caught red handed astroturfing “grassroots” small business opposition to the Big Tech #antitrust bills. The two tech giants are the firms “sole financial support.” This is why we're organizing #AntitrustDay https://www.cnbc.com/...
I realize I'm biased and it's not a contest, but the CNBC and Politico pieces on Google/Amazon fraudulently puppeteering small business owners' names/brands in order to try to derail modest antitrust bills seems a lot crazier than Big Tech firm A's PR firm hitting Big Tech firm B…