The Council on Ethics of the Swedish AP pension funds has organised a group of institutional investors with a combined €6.4trn of assets under management to collaboratively engage with big tech firms to strengthen their management of human rights risks and impacts.

The primary goal of the initiative is to ensure that big tech firms take concrete measures to address operations and human rights risks in their products and business models, and to call for more transparent reporting on the related impacts and efforts.

The council noted that many online platforms have business models that centre on maximising interactions with their content, and while this has benefits for transparency and connectivity, there are “notable risks”, such as the spreading of malicious or false content.

Alongside jeopardising individual human rights, especially for vulnerable groups, hate speech and misinformation can have wider consequences, such as hyper-polarisation, discrimination, violence and erosion of democracy, the council stated.

It has therefore organised a group of institutional investors to collaboratively engage with focus companies Alibaba, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Tencent.

The three-year initiative is aligned with the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, and builds on the expectations issued by the Council on Ethics and Danish Institute of Human Rights in 2020.

The collaboration’s activities and results will be publicly reported.

Participating investors include the Swedish national pension funds (AP1, AP2, AP3 and AP4), Amundi, APG, Aviva Investors, AXA Investment Managers, Church of England Pensions Board, LGPS Central, PGGM, Railpen, Robeco, Royal London Asset Management, Schroders and Universities Superannuation Scheme.

“I am proud of how the Council on Ethics has been a driving force behind this initiative,” commented Council on Ethics chair, Magdalena Håkansson.

“We, together with this investor group, recognise the systemic nature of the challenges related to online content, and in addition to effecting company-level improvements hope to raise broader discussion and awareness of the risks with the services of these tech companies.

“The dialogues will focus on content-related practices pertaining to corporate culture and structures, vulnerable groups (especially children), access to remedy and stakeholder engagement.

“The Council on Ethics looks forward to addressing this highly topical and increasingly pertinent topic together with this impressive group of investors.”

Amundi ESG analyst, Luda Svystunova, added: “We are delighted to be part of the collaborative initiative convened by the Council on Ethics.

“As the regulatory environment continues to evolve and ever more material risks related to the development and use of technology are identified, collective engagement is essential to build expectations and hold tech companies accountable for their societal impact.”

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