ESG Investor
Michael Connor
Keeping up with AI

With AI-related risks being inherently global in nature, the hope and anticipation is that there will be a suitably robust regulatory environment wherever the technology is deployed, Michael Connor, Executive Director at Open MIC, tells ESG Investor.

“Many companies have global activities, so we need to ensure that if they are applying a higher standard in Europe due to EU regulations, this should be the case wherever they operate to foster greater corporate accountability in the deployment and use of digital technologies,” he says.

Keeping up with AI

Salesforce Will Let Workers Break NDAs to Report Harassment, Discrimination

Salesforce Will Let Workers Break NDAs to Report Harassment, Discrimination

“For the last year or so we have been filing shareholder proposals and pressing companies on this subject,” said Michael Connor, executive director of Open Mic, one of the members of the Transparency in Employment Agreements, or TEA Coalition, which has been pressuring shareholders to act. Salesforce was facing a proxy vote at an upcoming annual meeting asking it to prepare a report on how mandatory so-called concealment clauses might stifle disclosure. The announcement today withdraws that proposal.

Meta’s Russia Problem Is Up to Nick Clegg, Not Mark Zuckerberg, to Solve

Meta’s Russia Problem Is Up to Nick Clegg, Not Mark Zuckerberg, to Solve

“He’s been there over three years, and really nothing has changed,” says Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, an advocacy group that works with investors to push for social changes at tech companies. “It’s pretty clear that Mark Zuckerberg has burned his bridges with some critical constituencies, including legislators in the U.S. and Europe, so they had to put a new person forward.”

Working with the military is lucrative. For enterprise AI companies, it’s also a minefield.

Working with the military is lucrative. For enterprise AI companies, it’s also a minefield.

“Reputational harm can be quite considerable” when AI tech providers work with the military, said Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a nonprofit that has helped shareholders pressure tech companies including Microsoft and Amazon to establish ethical practices.

But these issues are complicated, Connor said. Because AI is used even for basic administrative purposes like automating invoices, it is important to consider DoD contracts with AI vendors on a case-by-case basis, he said.

Hearing the N-Word in the Metaverse Is Just the Beginning

Hearing the N-Word in the Metaverse Is Just the Beginning

Earlier this week, Arjuna Capital filed a lengthy rebuttal to Meta that cited a laundry list of the social media giant’s most famous scandals, from the Cambridge Analytica privacy lapse to its role in facilitating the deadly insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Open Mic Executive Director Michael Connor, whose group is working with Arjuna Capital, told me it’s because of that track record that an independent assessment of the technology underlying the metaverse is necessary.

Investors in Facebook, Amazon and other companies are asked to let workers speak up about harassment, discrimination

Investors in Facebook, Amazon and other companies are asked to let workers speak up about harassment, discrimination

Michael Connor, the executive director of Open MIC (Media and Information Companies Initiative), a nonprofit that works on socially responsible investing and is also part of the coalition, said the law is “simply good business.”

“These resolutions are based on a simple premise: Companies benefit from knowing when sexual harassment, discrimination and unlawful behavior are happening in the workplace, which is why employees should be encouraged to speak out about such conduct,” he said.

These nuns could force Microsoft to put its money where its mouth is

These nuns could force Microsoft to put its money where its mouth is

"What we see is the company generally portrays itself as privacy-friendly, and yet we see that it is, in many cases, lobbying against those same principles," said Michael Connor, executive director of Open Mic, a nonprofit group that uses shareholder proposals to force corporate accountability.

Open Mic worked with shareholders on this and other proposals, one of which has already been successfully withdrawn by the filers. That proposal also called for Microsoft to conduct a human rights impact assessment related to its government contracts. Microsoft took shareholders up on that offer before the proposal even went to a vote.

Microsoft Agrees to Human Rights Review in Deals With Law Enforcement, Government

Microsoft Agrees to Human Rights Review in Deals With Law Enforcement, Government

“This will be an ambitious and complicated process and we’re certainly putting our faith in Microsoft and Foley Hoag to be conscientious,” said Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, a nonprofit shareholder advocacy organization that worked with IASJ on the proposal. “They’re asking for input from affected rights holders, which was a very big request on our part and they agreed to that.”

Microsoft will review its government contracts, bowing to investor pressure

Microsoft will review its government contracts, bowing to investor pressure

Open Mic has coordinated a range of activist shareholder proposals at large tech companies that try to force the companies to address questions about the ethical use of technology and how workers are treated internally. The original Microsoft shareholder proposal from Open Mic aimed to force the company to hire an independent third-party to evaluate whether Microsoft's contracts with government agencies comply with the company's stated commitment to human rights principles.

Investors want change, but founders like Mark Zuckerberg hold them off

Investors want change, but founders like Mark Zuckerberg hold them off

“There’s an arrogance about it that just cries out for some sort of justice,” said Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC (Media and Information Companies Initiative), a nonprofit that works on socially responsible investing. Socially responsible investing — also known as environmental, social and governance (ESG) — has grown more popular in recent years, and is especially so among younger investors. Surveys show they care more about investing in companies whose values align with theirs than their older counterparts.

Apple refuses to make NDA concessions for workplace harassment and discrimination

Apple refuses to make NDA concessions for workplace harassment and discrimination

“We approached Apple in good faith and encouraged them to take a leadership role here,” says Ifeoma Ozoma, who’s helping to lead the effort. “Their response was to use the same employee handbook that they’ve reportedly been using to silence workers as an excuse to say no. We responded that this wasn’t acceptable — and curiously haven’t heard back.”

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