Tech Workers, Shareholders, and Civil Society All Call For Big Tech Accountability in Israel’s Genocide against Palestinians

Thousands of supporters, including Tech Workers, Shareholders, and Civil Society groups, have launched the campaign Stop Big Tech Complicity in Genocide & Apartheid in coordination with the Annual Shareholder Meetings at Meta, Google, and PayPal. Google’s services have supported the first ever AI-assisted genocide, while Meta’s platforms allow Israeli officials to advocate for further ethnic cleansing and genocidal military actions, and PayPal blocks transactions and deplatforms Palestinians and supporters simply trying to aid humanitarian relief efforts.

Fifteen endorsing organizations launched the campaign to raise awareness about  Big Tech’s ongoing role in supplying Israel with technologies to commit crimes against humanity against Palestinians. The diverse coalition of rights groups is demanding that big tech companies be held accountable for their complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. As part of the international campaign, thousands of supporters have signed a petition which calls for:

1. All Big Tech firms to terminate contracts and business practices that contribute to mass violations of Palestinian human rights
2. Cut ties with agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin that perpetuate violent policies against marginalized communities globally, including the militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border, mass deportations, and the targeting of activists on U.S. college campuses
3. Corporations to respect workers’ rights to protest and speak out against the use of their labor in support of Israeli genocide, apartheid, and other state violence
4. Call on lawmakers around the world to fulfill their responsibilities and obligations as stipulated under international law and national laws to hold Big Tech accountable for providing Israel with technologies to commit war crimes against Palestinians.

In coordination with the campaign, shareholders representing over $354,000 in PayPal shares have sent a letter to PayPal executives urging them open up services to Palestine, and a protest will be held outside of PayPal’s Headquarters in San Jose today, on the day of their Annual Shareholder Meeting, as well as outside of Google offices in New York tomorrow, on the day of their Annual Shareholder meeting. Furthermore, a shareholder resolution was voted on at Google’s meeting, calling for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, to invest in an independent third-party report looking into whether services and technologies provided by the firm in conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRA) are contributing to mass violations of human rights. The resolution specifically names Google’s Project Nimbus, among other high-profile examples of the company’s technologies being used for surveillance, censorship, and/or military purposes, which contribute to human rights violations. 

Representatives from shareholder groups, tech workers, community organizers, and civil society are available for comment upon request. Please reach out to press@fightforthefuture.org for comment.