Shareholders Urge Facebook, Twitter to Tackle Online Harassment
12 January 2018 - 11:42AM
Dow Jones News
By Yoree Koh
Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. on Thursday came under fresh fire
from shareholders who pressed the social-media companies to do more
to combat harassment of all kinds on their platforms.
Arjuna Capital, a boutique investment firm located near Boston,
and the New York State Common Retirement Fund co-filed shareholder
resolutions at both companies asking about the extent of these
problems and how the companies intend to remedy them. Sexual
harassment was a leading concern in the resolutions.
The companies have played an "unfortunate role" in "escalating
sexual harassment, hate speech and fake news online," the
resolutions say.
Natasha Lamb, managing partner at Arjuna Capital, said in a
statement that it views sexual harassment online as a threat to
women and a danger to shareholder value.
"If users feel unsafe on the platform, they simply won't use
it," Ms. Lamb said in a statement.
Facebook and Twitter declined to comment.
For years, the social-media companies had come under occasional
fire for inappropriate content ranging from bullying to hate speech
and violent images. But public frustration surged over the last
year amid evidence that Russians manipulated the platforms by
spreading fake news and paying for ads during the 2016 presidential
election. Now, after revelations of sexual harassment have rocked
industries from entertainment to media to politics, shareholders
are debating whether social media plays a role in propagating this
kind of behavior.
Twitter found itself in the spotlight last fall when it
temporarily suspended actress Rose McGowan's Twitter account. Ms.
McGowan, one of the women who alleged sexual misconduct by
Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, had used the platform to call
out offenders. Twitter said she posted private phone number in one
of her tweets, a violation of the company's privacy policy. The
suspension led to an outcry and high-profile female users boycotted
the service for a day.
The New York Common Retirement Fund's shares in Facebook are
worth about $1.3 billion, while its stake in Twitter is valued at
roughly $35 million.
"Social media companies need to protect their customers,
themselves and their investors from hate speech and harassment,"
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a statement.
"Investors have a right to know what steps these companies are
taking to enforce their terms of service and keep abusive content
from fake news to sexual harassment off their platforms."
Arjuna Capital is no stranger to pushing companies to answer for
social-justice issues. The firm has pressured tech companies
including Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Apple Inc. and Microsoft, to
disclose the percentage of female pay to male pay. In October, it
co-filed proposals with Twitter, Facebook and Google asking for
information about how Russia used their platforms to spread fake
news during the 2016 presidential election.
Write to Yoree Koh at yoree.koh@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 11, 2018 19:27 ET (00:27 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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