On Tuesday, a group of Amazon shareholders announced 15 proposals calling on the e-commerce giant Amazon to address a sweeping array of issues, from human rights to environmental impacts. The company’s shareholders are expected to vote on many of these proposals at the company’s annual meeting in mid-2023.
This year, RDR partnered with Open MIC, a non-profit shareholder advocacy group, to develop a proposal calling on Amazon to report on the censorship demands it receives from governments around the world. The proposal was filed by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. The Investor Alliance for Human Rights, RDR’s long-standing partner in the shareholder community, provided key support.
For two years in a row, RDR has found that Amazon lags far behind many other tech companies in its transparency on government demands to restrict content and accounts. In our 2022 Big Tech Scorecard, it was the sole U.S.-based company to reveal nothing about the process it follows when it receives such requests and no data on the subject.
The proposal is part of a new wave of shareholder advocacy at Amazon focused on digital rights issues. Two others ask Amazon to commission independent reports assessing the human rights impacts of its facial recognition, surveillance, and cloud storage services. Both received strong support from investors at Amazon’s 2022 annual meeting.
Read more about our work with shareholders on our Investor Guidance page.
