November 12, 2021 – Earlier this week, the Nathan Cummings Foundation filed a shareholder proposal asking Alphabet, the parent company of Google and YouTube, to commission an independent racial equity audit “analyzing Alphabet Inc.’s adverse impacts on Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.” This proposal has been endorsed by civil rights group Color Of Change, which has been leading a campaign for the past year urging Google to conduct a racial equity audit, as well as employee members of the Alphabet Workers Union.
“Investors increasingly expect companies to assess and address their performance on the critical issue of racial equity, and investors in Alphabet are no exception,” said Michael Connor, executive director of Open MIC, which works with shareholders to foster corporate accountability in the tech sector. “Conducting a racial equity audit would be a great step forward for everyone - especially Alphabet’s senior management - and enable a better understanding of the impact that products like Google and YouTube have on billions of people around the world.”
Shareholders are concerned that many of Alphabet’s business practices are enabling racism and discrimination, posing legal, financial, and reputational risk. Public, third-party racial equity audits have supported companies like Facebook and Airbnb in acknowledging areas for improvement and beginning to put in place company infrastructure to prevent and mitigate harm. Shareholders hope an Alphabet audit would cover a range of topics including:
Amplifying racism and bigotry: The New York Times reported that YouTube was “successfully weaponized by racists...to undermine Black Lives Matter.” Research shows “YouTube plays a key role in exposing young people to white supremacist ideology and anti-Muslim propaganda.”
Deploying AI tools that discriminate: Research found that Google’s face detection technology is susceptible to a range of racial biases.
Surveilling communities of color: Reporting suggests Google may be supplying technology to surveil border communities.
Retaliating against BIPOC employees who bring these issues to light: When Dr. Timnit Gebru, co-lead of Google’s AI Ethics team, flagged issues about Google’s discriminatory technology, the company fired her.
“Alphabet has a well-documented track record of ignoring the mistreatment of Black employees. The retaliation against highly regarded researchers like Dr. Timnit Gebru, who warned of the dangers caused by the company’s reliance on flawed large language models like the normalization of racist and abusive language in product software, reflects the need for Alphabet to conduct a rigorous and independent racial equity audit,” said Rashad Robinson, President of Color Of Change.
Robinson added: “Despite releasing a public statement in support of racial equity following the nationwide protests for racial justice, Alphabet urged asset managers to vote against any measure of external accountability. Color Of Change has witnessed firsthand the positive outcomes of racial equity audits, such as when Airbnb collaborated with us. Shareholders now have an opportunity at the upcoming annual meeting to break from Alphabet by voting in favor of the independent racial equity audit proposal and to make a firm commitment towards racial justice. Standard, uncritical proxy voting in line with corporate boards has reinforced white supremacy for too long. Without urgent shareholder action, tech firms like Alphabet will continue to endanger Black and other marginalized communities.”
The proposal specifies the audit should be conducted by an external, independent auditor and be published publicly on Alphabet’s website upon conclusion. The proposal also asserts that Alphabet should incorporate feedback from racial justice and civil rights organizations, and employees (including temporary vendors and contractors) during the audit process.
“We endorse this proposal for Google to commission a racial equity audit. It’s long past time Google contended with its business practices, both internal and external to the company. For example, Google’s two tiered employment system is designed to exploit temporary vendors and contractors, who are by and large employees of color. This worker justice issue is also a racial justice issue, and the Alphabet Workers Union is determined to put an end to this exploitative system,” said Parul Koul, Software Engineer at Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Executive Chair of the Alphabet Workers Union.
“Investors have a responsibility to ensure that companies back up their messages of support for communities of color with a thorough examination of where their products and practices are causing harm and a concrete plan to address any problems uncovered. As a long-term investor, we believe that uncovering and addressing racial equity problems now will lead to stronger returns in the long-run,” said Laura Campos, Director of Corporate and Political Accountability at Nathan Cummings Foundation.
Open MIC is a non-profit organization that works to foster greater corporate accountability in the media and technology sectors, principally through shareholder engagement. Working with socially responsible investors, Open MIC identifies, develops, and supports campaigns that promote values of openness, equity, privacy, and diversity – values that provide long-term benefits for individuals, companies, the economy, and the health of democratic society.
Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by 7 million members, Color Of Change moves decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
Alphabet Workers Union unites full-time employees, temporary employees, vendors and contractors at Google and other Alphabet companies in the United States and Canada in collective action to ensure that our workplace is equitable and that Alphabet acts ethically. We are members of Communications Workers of America Local 1400. Learn more at alphabetworkersunion.org or follow us at @AlphabetWorkers.
Nathan Cummings Foundation is a multigenerational family foundation, rooted in the Jewish tradition of social justice, working to create a more just, vibrant, sustainable, and democratic society. The Foundation partners with social movements, organizations, and individuals who have creative and catalytic solutions to climate change and inequality.
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