Facebook sets up a political action committee

SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook has established a political action committee (PAC), marking its latest foray into the world of politics.

Facebook incorporated its PAC yesterday and registered two domain names for it, Fbpac.org and Fbpac.us.

"[Facebook] PAC will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected," said a spokesperson for Facebook, according to the New York Times.

The move follows similar attempts by rival social networks to enter the political world, such as with sponsorships of presidential debates and town hall meetings like the one hosted by Linkedin for US President Barack Obama.

Google, which entered into direct competition with Facebook earlier this year with Google+, set up its own PAC in 2006, paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to aid various political campaigns. Google has been well known for its ties with the White House and other political connections.

Of course, some might question whether or not big multi-billion dollar businesses should be getting involved in politics at all, with the cynical amongst us suggesting that the entire purpose is to build close political allies to help with lobbying for law changes that favour their pocketbooks.

Facebook already spent over half a million dollars this year on lobbying, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics, and this number could increase dramatically with a PAC. The figure is buttons compared to the possible fines and sanctions if laws are not in its favour, however.

Facebook also recently highlighted its hopes to build ties with Hollywood. With big movie, music, and political connections, the social network is covering all the angles in its efforts to remain the most dominant social media platform in the world. µ