Investor Statement on Corporate Accountability for Digital Rights

The past few years have put a spotlight on the unchecked power of technology companies contributing to the proliferation of misinformation and viral hate speech, increased levels of illegal surveillance, including that which enables immigration policing, attacks on democracy, the censorship of dissident voices, and discrimination against marginalized communities, including racial and gender discrimination due to artificial intelligence and algorithmic bias.

Companies in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector must be held accountable for their policies and practices that affect people’s right to freedom of expression and privacy (digital rights). 

The Investor Alliance has been coordinating a collective investor engagement with ICT companies (listed below) on their digital rights performance using benchmarked data from Ranking Digital Rights (RDR). Investors utilize benchmark reports like the RDR Index as a tool that provides a roadmap supporting companies in meeting their human rights responsibilities and helps investors identify and assess digital rights in their portfolios. 

176 investors and their representatives representing over US$9.2 trillion in assets under management signed the Investor Statement on Corporate Accountability for Digital Rights, outlining investor expectations in line with the evaluation and recommendation of the 2020 Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index. In October 2021, Investor signatories sent the letter to 26 companies assessed in the 2020 RDR Index, escalating engagements they initiated with the sector in 2018. Investor engagements are ongoing using the latest 2022 data from RDR. If you wish to learn more or to join engagement efforts, please contact Anita Dorett (adorett@iccr.org). You also add your support by signing on to the Investor Statement here. 

Digital platforms (*companies engaged by investors)
•    Alibaba*
•    Amazon*
•    Apple*
•    Baidu*
•    Facebook (Meta)*
•    Google (Alphabet)*
•    Kakao*
•    VK (formerly Mail.Ru)
•    Microsoft*
•    Samsung*
•    Tencent*
•    X (formerly Twitter)
•    Yahoo (formerly part of Verizon Media)
•    Yandex*

Telecommunications companies (*companies engaged by investors)
•    América Móvil*
•    AT&T*
•    Axiata*
•    Bharti Airtel*
•    Deutsche Telekom*
•    Etisalat
•    MTN*
•    Ooredoo
•    Orange*
•    Telefónica*
•    Telenor*
•    Vodafone*