Arjuna Capital Files Facebook Shareholder Resolution Over 'Fake News' Impact to Business
Investment firm Arjuna Capital wants Facebook to evaluate how fake news and hoaxes are affecting the social media company's platform and business. The question was raised in a shareholder resolution filed Thursday with investment adviser Baldwin Brothers. Arjuna Capital filed…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
a similar resolution in December with Alphabet's Google. In a news release about the Facebook filing, Arjuna Capital said it's asking the company "to provide detailed information regarding the impact of current fake news flows and management systems on the democratic process, free speech, and a cohesive society, as well as reputational and operational risks from potential public policy developments." Facebook is facing serious criticism about the proliferation of fake news, censorship and bias on its platform, and took several steps to provide more authentic and legitimate news to users in recent months (see 1701310068, 1701250083, 1701110064, 1612130030 and 1612150035). "If Facebook maintains a platform of confusion and distortion it will lose the trust of its users, in which case they will simply move on to the next thing," said Arjuna Capital Managing Partner Natasha Lamb in the release. Michael Connor, executive director of nonprofit Open MIC, which is assisting the investment firm on this matter, said Facebook and Google increasingly will need to "defend the integrity of the information and services they provide" or lose trust. The web companies didn't comment.