Shareholders tell Google to rethink China search product

Shareholders tell Google to rethink China search product and prioritize human rights (Falls Church, Va., Feb. 27, 2019) — A coalition of Google shareholders has filed a resolution asking the company to publish a human rights impact assessment for a controversial censored search product — called “Dragonfly” — that Google is reportedly developing for use in China. Led by Azzad Asset Management, the shareholders are concerned that Google’s compliance with China’s repressive laws would facilitate and legitimize surveillance and censorship, posing serious human rights risks. The shareholders’ call to action at Google is timely given recent reports that Google is already censoring its search product in Russia, blacklisting websites according to government instructions. India’s government is considering new rules that could again implicate Google in censorship. Open MIC, a non-profit that fosters shareholder engagement at leading tech and media companies, developed the proposal alongside lead filer Azzad, a socially responsible investment firm based in Virginia. The group of filers includes institutional and individual investors representing over $3 billion in assets under management. In submitting the resolution, shareholders are asking Google to demonstrate that the company’s stated ethical codes, values, and policies are truly informing all its products in the global

February 27, 2019 No Comments

Buy stock. Save the world.

We’ve been talking a lot about shareholder advocacy at Azzad recently–and about how it’s a largely untapped way for concerned citizens to take action on issues we care about. For those who aren’t familiar with it, shareholder advocacy refers to actions taken by stock investors (shareholders) to ask the companies whose stock they own to improve or change behavior for the public good. Think of asking an energy company to use more renewables or a technology company to end purchases of conflict minerals. If you invest in stocks, you can participate in shareholder advocacy. We recently used shareholder advocacy to take action on an issue many people feel isn’t getting the attention it should – the human rights abuses faced by the Rohingya minority in Burma at the hands of its government. In November 2016, the United Nations said that abuses perpetrated against the Rohingya by the Burmese military may amount to crimes against humanity. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has reported that the Rohingya are “at grave risk of additional mass atrocities and even genocide.” During the fall filing season, Azzad partnered with a Catholic religious organization, the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, to file the first shareholder resolution submitted

December 30, 2016 No Comments

Make investing great again

Why a Muslim investment company thinks shareholder activism is what this country needs right now As President-elect Trump goes about the task of putting his administration and cabinet in order, one thing looks certain: corporate lobbyists are setting their sights on the political novice and his team. I read with great concern a recent article on the coterie of influence peddlers lining up to sway the new administration (“With Trump’s Election, a Bonanza for Washington Lobbyists,” The New York Times, November 10, 2016). Doubtless the pernicious influence of lobbyists was present during the Obama years, but for the anti-establishment candidate who staked his political reputation on “draining the swamp,” the hypocrisy is particularly striking. It is not surprising that corporate interests exercise power whenever and wherever possible in order to maximize profits, and by extension, value for shareholders. That value can take many forms, however, and there are often competing definitions of the word itself. Corporations make many of the most consequential decisions in today’s society, and in a Trump administration the private sector may well take on an outsized role. Those who feel disempowered after last week’s election result may want to turn to shareholder advocacy as a way

November 14, 2016 No Comments