human rights
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Dutch court rules that being forced to keep a webcam on while working is illegal
A court in the Netherlands has ruled that a US company violated a Dutch worker's human rights by forcing him to keep his webcam on during work hours.
Meta's first human rights report defends the company's misinformation strategy
Meta has unveiled its first human rights report, and it focuses heavily on justifying Facebook misinformation policies.
Intel apologizes for letter on forced labor in Xinjiang
Intel has apologized for a letter saying it would avoid forced labor from Xinjiang after an uproar on Chinese social networks.
YouTube took down videos documenting Xinjiang human rights abuses
YouTube took down a string of videos documenting human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang province, and the reasoning isn't necessarily clear.
Facebook unveils 'corporate human rights' policy
Facebook has unveiled a new company-wide human rights policy to firm up its commitment to “respecting human rights in our business operations, product development, policies and programming.”
DJI can no longer buy components from the US for its drones
The Commerce Department said the drone maker 'enabled wide-scale human rights abuses within China.'
Facebook vows legal action after being forced to block Thai anti-royalty group
After being forced by the Thai government to block access to a group critical of the country’s king, Facebook said it will legally challenge the demand. The situation has once again cast a light on Facebook’s policies around authoritarian governments and showed what actions it might take in response.
IBM stops work on facial recognition over human rights concerns
IBM is exiting its facial recognition business over concerns of possible human rights violations and racial biases.
Microsoft makes its advanced account protection free for healthcare workers
As if fighting the coronavirus pandemic weren’t challenging enough, cybercriminals are making things more difficult for healthcare providers and humanitarian groups. Typically aimed at politicians and their staff, AccountGuard notifies customers when Microsoft detects an attack and provides guidance on stopping it. The service will be available to these new groups until the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, Microsoft said in an announcement.
Former Google exec says he was pushed out for defending human rights
Google's former global head of international relations claims he was pushed out of the company for trying to protect free expression and privacy in China. In a letter shared today, Ross LaJeunesse says that, after 11 years of working to protect human rights in China, he was told there was no longer a job for him as a result of "reorganization." He says the company has strayed from its "don't be evil" motto, and rather than take a lesser role, he's leaving to run for a Senate seat in Maine.
Facebook pledges $130 million for its content oversight board
Over the past year, Facebook has been working to put together a content oversight board. We've heard Mark Zuckerberg's vision, and Facebook shared a charter outlining its rules. Now, Facebook is committing $130 million to the effort.
Amnesty International: Facebook and Google are a threat to human rights
Amnesty International, the premiere human rights organization, says Facebook and Google pose an unprecedented systematic threat to human rights. Specifically, Amnesty is concerned with the companies' "pervasive surveillance." In a new report, the organization warns against what it calls "omnipresent surveillance of billions of people" and calls for a "radical transformation of the tech giants' core business model."
YouTube add face blur tech to its videos, creates anonymous copies of your clips
YouTube has added another feature to its enhancements tool, allowing you to automate the process of blurring out people's faces in your photos. Its makers are quick to add that it's still an emerging technology, and that it may still miss out on faces depending on lighting obstructions and video quality. YouTube cites footage from human rights issues for bringing the idea forward, where identification of those involved could prove dangerous. You'll be able to preview how it looks, and if you choose to include the blurred option, a new copy is made to avoid losing the unedited original. The feature is rolling out to the site today -- now you just need a decent video camera.
Apple supplier shows 95% overtime compliance in March 2012
Apple maintains a supplier responsibly report on its website and recently added some new statistics that show overtime working conditions are improving in its factories. Noticed by The Next Web, Apple is now seeing 95 percent compliance with its 60-hour work week requirement. This is up from 89 percent in February 2012 and 84 percent in January 2012. As noted before, most workers are averaging a 48-hour work week. This latest report covers over 800,000 workers in supply chain factories who are tracked weekly. [Via The Next Web]
Tim Cook meets Chinese Vice Premier in Beijing, talks IP law, worker rights
Tim Cook's visit to China this week marks his first as Apple's CEO, but what originally appeared to be a casual jaunt to Beijing with possible carrier meetings on the agenda, has turned out to be a carefully orchestrated visit, including appointments with top government officials to talk economic development and intellectual property rights. Xinhua, the country's official press agency (and therefore not the most objective of sources), reported that Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang stated that the country will "strengthen intellectual property rights protection" and "pay more attention to caring for workers." Typical of state-sponsored releases, the report failed to expand on either statement, but even if nothing comes of this particular meeting, Keqiang is in line to take over as Premier next year, making him a solid addition to Cook's rolodex. There's a Chinese-language video of the encounter waiting just past the break.
Apple updates report on supplier working conditions
It probably wasn't Mike Daisey's fabricated "theatrical work" that moved Apple to work on improving working conditions for employees at overseas suppliers, but even if it wasn't, the company is doing a great job of making good on their plans to help those employees. Apple is providing monthly updates on its Supplier Responsibility web pages to let the public know how they're doing. The current focus is on making sure that people aren't working ridiculously long hours, one issue that has been implicated in the past suicides of some Foxconn employees. Apple's guidelines state that employees should work less than 60 hours per week, and the company reported that for January, the compliance rate with the guideline as 84 percent. For February, there was a noticeable increase in compliance, with the rate bumping up to 89 percent. Among 500,000 workers, the average workweek was an almost-comfortable 48 hours. As we've noted before here on TUAW, Apple is working with the Fair Labor Association to perform audits of working and living conditions for many of the employees working for Foxconn and other suppliers. As 2012 progresses, we look forward to seeing Apple moving ahead in the area of labor and human rights. [via Macworld]
Nokia establishes stance on conflict minerals in formal policy
Recent weeks have seen a swell of interest in corporate responsibility, particularly with regard to technology manufacturing and supply chains. Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook affirmed his company's commitment to ethically and environmentally sound practices, evoking sentiments that were echoed today in a similar announcement from Nokia. Seizing the opportunity to establish some goodwill among socially conscious consumers, the Finnish manufacturer has just released a policy outlining its philosophy on conflict minerals -- metals like gold, tungsten and tin that have played a direct role in fueling civil violence and unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the document (linked below), Nokia acknowledged that it doesn't play a direct role in obtaining these materials, but emphasized its strict traceability requirements. All suppliers, Nokia says, must provide detailed information on the sourcing of its metals, going back to the smelter phase, at a minimum, and even to the mine itself, if necessary. The company also highlighted its adherence to guidelines established by the EICC-GeSI Extractives Work Group, which both Apple and Intel have already joined. Granted, it's impossible for a single company to wipe out civil strife and human rights abuses in one fell swoop, but with this codified approach, Nokia hopes to at least "increase transparency, ensure responsible procurement by our suppliers and sub-suppliers, and drive positive change."
Wintek workers still experience effects from n-hexane exposure, Apple issues a report
It's been a few months since we checked in on the workers at Wintek, where they manufacture touchscreens for the likes of Apple. As you might remember, the former company was facing a lawsuit for chemical poisoning that occurred between May 2008 to August 2009 when the company substituted alcohol for n-hexane in the manufacturing process. Both Apple and Wintek maintain that ultimately a total of 137 people had been hospitalized, and all have recovered -- but as Reuters points out, daily exposure to the chemical has been known to cause "long-term and possibly irreversible nerve damage," and Wintek employees have maintained that the company has left them holding the bag for symptoms that could very well flare up again in the future (or, in some cases, never really went away). "We are unable to cope with the medical costs of treatment in the future," said Guo Ruiqiang, a worker at the plant. "We can only stay in the factory and see what happens. We just feel very helpless now." For Apple's part, the company has mandated that Wintek "work with a consultant to improve their Environmental Health and Safety processes and management systems" in anticipation of a complete reaudit of the facility in 2011. [Warning: PDF More Coverage link]
Another Foxconn employee commits suicide
Another Foxconn employee has committed suicide within the last few hours, several Chinese news sources are reporting. So far, we know that the employee was male, and that he died at the Longhua factory but no other details have been made available as of yet. This latest death comes just hours after the news that Foxconn employees were very recently asked to sign a letter saying that the company would pay no more than legal minimum wage for "injuries sustained outside the workplace." The letter, which was made public early this morning, caused Chairman of Hon Hai to say they were "taking it back" as the language was inappropriate. Foxconn, AKA Hon Hai Precision -- a massive Taiwan-based company with huge factories in China -- is responsible for manufacturing electronics for several major US companies, namely Apple, Dell, and HP. All three released statements about the state of affairs earlier today that essentially boil down to "we're looking into it." [Thanks, MakeChoice]
Foxconn CEO: 'We are definitely not a sweatshop'
The problems that have emerged in China at one of Foxconn's largest factories continue -- with reports this morning that an eleventh person has fallen from a building there, making him the ninth person to die there this year. Foxconn's CEO Guo Tai-ming yesterday released a statement to the Chinese press addressing the situation publicly for the first time. He stated: "We believe that we are definitely not a sweatshop. It's very difficult to manage a manufacturing team of 800,000 something. With the others around the world it adds up to almost 900,000, so there's a lot to be done every day. However, we believe that we'll soon be able to stabilize this situation." The video also, however, details a new undercover report -- this time eight men who met online -- three of whom ended up being recruited by Foxconn. Their claims? New employees must sign a voluntary affidavit committing to between 60 and 100 hours of overtime each month -- far more than the legal limit of 36 hours. Managers often verbally abuse workers, and randomly deduct pay from their performance bonuses. The 900 yuan minimum wage per month (around $132) is very low in comparison to the company's profits and standing in the country. Possibly the most interesting tidbit unearthed here is the claim that over the past three months, Foxconn has lost about 50,000 workers each month, and as such, has become desperate to make up for the lost manpower. Recruitment standards -- which used to include proof of secondary education -- have been all but dropped, and new recruits need only show identification to obtain a position. Finally, Foxconn has apparently hired about 50 new counselors over the past two days, and the front-line managers are also now trying to communicate with the workers to get a feel for the situation. We'll keep our eyes peeled for further developments, but in the meantime, hit up the source link to view the full news report in Chinese.
