Surveillance Capitalism

India Initiates Legal Action on CSR Spending

April 16, 2018

According to a report by Dhana Kumar, the Indian government is pursuing penalties against nearly 200 corporations for their failure to abide by a law requiring them to spend part of their average net profit on activities related to corporate social responsibility (CSR).
AI Faults Twitter over Failure to Uphold Rights in Posts

April 09, 2018

Amnesty International (AI) has launched a campaign called "Toxic Twitter" faulting the technology giant for failing to uphold women's rights "to live free from discrimination and violence" by shutting down sexist abuse and harassment of women on its social media platform and for refusing to publicly report on its efforts to stamp out such online abuse.
Business Leaders Push for Climate-Focused EU Budget

March 29, 2018

The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group, a coalition of European business leaders committed to implementing global climate-change rules, has published a letter to EU leaders to ensure that negotiations over the post-2020 EU budget focus on how they can best align the future finances of the bloc with the fulfillment of the 2015 Paris climate accord.
Apple Reports BHR Violations Among Global Suppliers

March 28, 2018

Technology giant Apple has embraced the movement for corporate reporting on the business and human rights (BHR) agenda by releasing a Supplier Responsibility Progress Report indicating that an audit of the company's global supply chain revealed "core violations" of labor and other rights.
Shareholders Push Rio Tinto on Coal Lobbying

March 27, 2018

The Guardian reports that shareholders in Australian-British mining group Rio Tinto, including large, institutional investors, are pushing the company to end its membership in various trade groups that lobby for government policies in favor of coal production that they say threaten the global climate-change agenda.
French Asset Management Firm Divests from Tobacco

March 26, 2018

FT Adviser reports that the asset management arm of French bank BNP Paribas is excluding tobacco companies from a range of active investments as part of the company's move toward "ethical and socially responsible investing."
BlackRock Targets Gun Companies with Divestment Threat

March 26, 2018

The Independent reports that investment management firm BlackRock has announced it is offering its clients the option of pulling their investments from gun manufacturers in response to the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and will use its ownership stake in these companies to pressure them to introduce policies aimed at preventing mass shootings.
UN "Call to Action" Seeks Gender Equality at Work

March 21, 2018

At the conclusion of an event hosted by the Government of Chile and the UN Development Programme, representatives of business, government, and international and nongovernmental organizations issued a Call to Action of Chile committing them to policies promoting gender equality in employment as a path toward fulfilling the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
MEPs Seek Fines for "Abusive" Corporate Lawsuits

March 20, 2018

The Guardian reports that Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have introduced a proposal for EU legislation that would ease the dismissal of "vexatious" lawsuits launched by companies against journalists and establish fines for "abusive" corporate legal conduct toward the media.
UN Entity Calls for Development of "SDG Bonds"

March 05, 2018

The UN Global Compact recently hosted a symposium in California focused on the development of "Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Bonds" to be issued by corporate and sovereign entities with the aim of promoting the diversion of investment funds into the fulfillment of the UN's comprehensive SDG agenda.