During the second quarter of 2024, at the Meta AGM, shareholders voted on a human rights resolution that we had co-filed in December 2023. AkademikerPension was the main filer of the resolution, with Storebrand and Amundi as co-filers.
Unfortunately, the resolution did not receive a majority of the votes, given that it was formally opposed by company management and that Meta Co-Founder, Chaiman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg controls a significant portion of the voting rights at the company, due to its dual-class share structure.
Seeking transparency on human rights harms of Meta’s services
The resolution requested that Meta Platforms Inc. (“Meta”) should issue a report to its shareholders regarding the effectiveness of measures it is taking to prevent and mitigate human rights risks in its five largest non-US markets (based on number of users) enabled by its Instagram and Facebook platforms came up for voting during the company's AGM.
By providing the report, Meta can address the persistent human rights risks which can and have had a negative impact on brand value and, indirectly, on its advertising revenue, as well as on diversified investment portfolios as viewed through a universal ownership lens.
The issues that we are seeking a report on, include topics such as proliferation of hate speech, disinformation, and incitement to violence. The dissemination of hatred that incites discrimination, hostility or violence, are actions that violate international human rights standards. Where content moderation systems have failed to effectively detect divisive content in non-English languages, there has been an associated increase in hate speech, disinformation, and incitement to violence.
The dissemination of hatred that incites discrimination, hostility or violence, are actions that violate international human rights standards.
Meta’s stakeholders and the public have repeatedly raised significant concerns regarding what appears to be an obvious lack of proportionate investment in content moderation resources and expertise in Meta’s global majority markets.
Proponents suggest that the report include data on the number of content moderators fluent in local languages in Instagram and Facebook’s five largest non-US markets based on number of users and an assessment by external, independent, and qualified experts of the effectiveness of Meta’s measures taken to meaningfully manage hateful content, disinformation, and incitement to violence on those platforms.
Engagement planned to continue
Although the shareholder resolution did not surmount the voting hurdle at the Meta AGM, it contributed to affirming the significant level concerns held by a significant block of shareholders. We believe the shareholder resolution will therefore serve a meaningful milestone point to build on, as we continue our ongoing engagement with the company on these critical issues.
