Praxis launches digital rights engagement with major tech companies
Advancing ethical technology and human rights through responsible investor advocacy
Praxis Investment ManagementTM has launched a new engagement initiative focused on digital rights with leading technology companies. This effort is part of the Praxis broader Ethics in Tech engagement theme, which promotes responsible innovation and respect for human dignity in the digital age.
Human rights are universally recognized freedoms and protections that belong to every person, including the right to be treated with dignity and to access essential resources. Digital rights extend these principles into the online world and include freedom of expression, the right to privacy, access to information without censorship, algorithmic transparency, and protection from discrimination.
All technology users are impacted by digital rights, from children and families to citizens living in authoritarian countries.
Here are some examples of digital rights issues:
- User privacy. Many platforms take and sell user data without notifying the user or giving the freedom to opt out. This creates risk by compromising customer data privacy.
- Algorithmic bias. This occurs when models are trained on biased datasets and can deny certain types of people opportunities such as automated hiring assessments or credit scoring. It may lead to life-changing consequences for digital users.
- Lack of transparency. When companies fail to disclose how they choose to restrict certain posts or promote other posts, this creates risk for echo chambers. Other transparency issues include the data companies use to train their AI models and how they enforce their policies in real time.
- Surveillance. There are significant risks to digital users living under oppressive or authoritarian regimes, including tracking and censorship.
Despite the growing importance of these issues, many technology leaders have not taken sufficient proactive measures.
In response, Praxis is collaborating with like-minded investors to engage companies on human rights impact assessments, ethical artificial intelligence commitments, and greater transparency in policy implementation.
Through this engagement, Praxis seeks to promote responsible technology practices that respect human rights and support long-term, sustainable value creation.