Ahead of the Thomson Reuters (TSX, NYSE: TRI) annual meeting of shareholders on June 9, 2021 the BCGEU has released an Investor Brief about its shareholder proposal, raising concerns about human rights impacts at the Toronto-based company. 

Historically a publishing business, Thomson Reuters's "Change Program" announced in 2021 will transition the company "from a content provider to a content-driven technology company." The company will increasingly rely on Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to grow revenues, and TRI sees its U.S. government business as a key driver for growth.

Thomson Reuters has made its products such as CLEAR® available to ICE, which has been used to track and arrest immigrants on a massive scale. The shareholder proposal asks the board to produce a human rights risk report identifying the potential human rights risks as the company transitions to a technology and AI business, and to compare the approach to human rights against those of other prominent technology companies.

As a technology business, Thomson Reuters lacks the risk mitigation safeguards its technology company peers have adopted, heightening the risks of adverse human rights impacts through the use of the company's products.

BCGEU encourages investors to vote for this proposal.

Download a full copy of the Investor Brief now

View the and the excerpt from Thomson Reuters’s management circular here.

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