The internet permeates our daily lives, and the number of users has doubled to more than four billion since 2011. This growth has exposed more people to the digital platforms and telecommunications companies running the online world. An updated resource is helping Mercy Investment Services and others advocate with these companies for consumers’ human rights.
The 2020 Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index evaluated 26 companies, including Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, on 58 indicators to identify and prevent potential threats to users’ human rights, as well as disclosed policies affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. The report shows that most companies disclose very little about how they shape and moderate digital content, enforce rules, and collect and use data – all of which impact the content users see. The report ranked Amazon last, providing further evidence of the validity of shareholders’ concerns regarding its transparency and accountability on users’ rights.
Mercy Investment Services will use the index in its engagements with Google, Facebook and Amazon, to continue to call for strengthened digital rights governance and accountability in order to ensure digital rights are human rights.