Child Safety

Children and teens are among the billions of users of Meta Platforms, the world’s largest social media company. Experts warn that its products, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, have many negative impacts on young users and pose significant social policy challenges. A recent U.S. Surgeon General report on Social Media and Youth Mental Health called this a “urgent public health issue” since social media affects the brains of children differently than adults. Social media also poses physical and psychological risks for which many children and teens are unprepared, such as sextortion and grooming, hate group recruitment, cyberbullying, exposure to sexual or violent content, invasion of privacy and self-harm content. Shareholders, led by Proxy Impact, filed a new child safety report resolution this year asking Meta to set quantitative targets and to publish an annual report assessing the effectiveness of its online child safety practices.

• Vote result:  Meta 16%. Votes at Meta are always lower than at other companies due to unequal voting rights. CEO Mark Zuckerberg owns approximately 13% of the company, but the company’s dual-class share structure gives him control of more than 60% of the vote. This year’s vote represents 54% of the non-management controlled vote, or more than 817 million shares worth more than $216 billion on the day of the annual meeting.

• Learn more:  Meta Fails to Address Online Child Safety Risks

Tax Dodging

Large companies routinely shuffle profits from one country to another to cut taxes, which has prompted governments worldwide to fight back, with a new European standard coming.  Higher and more accurate tax payments have come after billions of dollars in expensive fines and litigation settlements with ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, among many others. This year, Oxfam America filed proposals at all three firms, invoking the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Tax Standard released in 2019.  The standard asks for detailed, country-by-country reporting to prevent tax avoidance, and U.S. peer companies Hess and Newmont Mining have already adopted this standard.  Oxfam argued the companies already gather the requested information and could easily report it, although the companies said they already provide enough data. 

• Vote results: Chevron 14.6%, ExxonMobil 13.5%, ConocoPhillips 17.2%.

• Learn more: Big Oil Tax Dodging, Transparency and Standards

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Semi-conductors and circuit boards are in both civilian and military products, used in “dual-use” applications, and components from U.S. electronics companies have been found in weapons used by the Russian military in Ukraine. In the only shareholder proposal to see a vote directly addressing the war, Friends Fiduciary noted more than 15,000 shipments of Western electronic components went to Russia after the start of its invasion. The resolution therefore asked Texas Instruments to report on its due diligence process for determining if customers use its products to violate international law.  The proponent said the company can do a better job tracing its products, while Texas Instruments argued the complex global electronics supply chain makes traceability very difficult.

• Vote result: Texas Instruments 23%. Note: proponents withdrew a similar resolution about military software applications at Keysight Technologies.

• Learn more: Russian Military's Reliance on Dual Use Components Exposes Companies to Human Rights Risks