@kazani

This is a genuinely impressive piece of OSINT work. Here's what it found: The core claim: Meta spent a record $26.3M on federal lobbying in 2025 and secretly funded a "grassroots" child safety group called the Digital Childhood Alliance (DCA) to push the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA) legislation that forces Apple and Google to verify user ages before app downloads, while placing zero new requirements on social media platforms like Meta's own. The five confirmed channels: 1. Direct lobbying: 86+ lobbyists across 45 states. A Meta lobbyist literally drafted Louisiana HB-570 and handed it to the bill's sponsor, Rep. Kim Carver, who confirmed this publicly. The bill passed 99-0. 2. DCA astroturf: The Digital Childhood Alliance has no EIN, no state incorporation, no 990 filings, and its domain was registered December 18, 2024 with a fully-formed advocacy site live within 24 hours. Bloomberg confirmed Meta funds it. Under oath, its executive director admitted receiving tech funding but refused to name donors. Every piece of DCA content attacks Apple and Google. Meta is never mentioned. 3. Super PACs: $70M+ across four state PACs deliberately registered at state level (not FEC) to scatter disclosure filings and avoid centralized searchability. 4. Arabella network connection: Meta's Colorado lobbyist simultaneously chairs the New Venture Fund, which funnels $121M/year into the Sixteen Thirty Fund (no donor disclosure required). The investigation analyzed $2B in grants and found zero going to any child safety org ruling out that funding pathway, but the back-channel routes (fiscal sponsorship, consulting fees) remain unproven. 5. State legislative campaigns: ASAA is now law in Utah, Louisiana, and Texas (Texas currently paused by a federal judge). The smoking gun finding: Meta's own LD-2 Senate lobbying filings explicitly list the App Store Accountability Act (H.R. 3149/S. 1586) as a lobbied bill, while simultaneously lobbying on KOSA/COPPA 2.0 supporting legislation that burdens Apple and Google while opposing or seeking to amend legislation that would regulate Meta directly. https://archive.is/qP6kR

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