In the past, technology companies have been slow to build a Washington, D.C. presence. Hoping to avoid the late starts that Microsoft and Google got in the nation's capital, Facebook is increasing its D.C. staff.  

"We need to be here to define ourselves before someone else does it for us," says Tim Sparapani, a former privacy expert for the American Civil Liberties Union who joined Facebook in 2009. "It's clear we need to be part of the new thinking of Washington - and early in the company's maturation process."

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