Amazon asks SEC to block new proposals

Shareholders calling for reports on firm’s hiring and hate speech policies

Seattle-based Amazon.com has asked U.S. federal regulators to block multiple shareholder proposals addressing criticism of company stances on curbing hate speech, diversity in hiring, workplace conditions and surveillance technologies.

Shareholders would not have an opportunity to vote on the proposals at the company’s shareholder meeting this year if the request is granted, the Seattle Times reported. Last year, none of the shareholders’ proposals were approved.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment on whether it planned to allow Amazon to drop the proposals from the shareholder meeting docket.

Companies often ask the commission for permission to drop shareholder proposals and Amazon last year sought to exclude nine proposals. Amazon was given permission to exclude seven of the nine requests.

Amazon is now requesting that regulators block proposals asking the company to report on its efforts to check hate speech, consider qualified women and non-white candidates for all open positions, add hourly associates to its board of directors and assess whether its surveillance capabilities violate human rights.

The request came after the Nathan Cummings Foundation, a Jewish organization focused on social justice, introduced a shareholder proposal last month asking for a comprehensive report on Amazon’s “efforts to address hate speech and the sale or promotion of offensive products throughout its businesses.”

The foundation said at the time of the proposal, Amazon’s policies on offensive products did not apply to books, music, video and DVDs.

“With respect to these products, Amazon’s algorithm for product searches proactively directs customers who search for white supremacist content to additional extremist content,” the foundation said.

Amazon sent a letter to the commission on Monday saying a report on its efforts to repress hate speech is unnecessary because it had published a blog post the previous day outlining its policies and efforts to remove offensive product listings. Amazon on Tuesday updated its guidelines for books and similar materials to add a ban on “offensive content.”