THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY | Diligence report evaluating human rights impacts

Status
36.78% votes in favour
AGM date
Proposal number
6
Resolution details
Company ticker
DIS
Lead filer
National Legal and Policy Center
Resolution ask
Conduct due diligence, audit or risk/impact assessment
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Human rights
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
National Legal and Policy Center has filed the following resolution. This will be updated in the lead filer field as soon as possible.

Shareholders request that, beginning in 2022, Disney report on the process of due diligence, if any, that the Company undertakes in evaluating the human rights impacts of its business and associations with foreign entities, including foreign governments, their agencies, and private sector intermediaries.
Supporting statement
Disney became the center of controversy in 2020 when it was reported that the film credits for Mulan offered “special thanks” to eight Chinese government entities in Xinjiang province. Both the Biden and Trump administrations have formally characterized the Chinese government’s policy toward the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang as “genocide.”

The credits also expressed thanks to the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomy Region Committee, the Chinese Communist party’s propaganda agency in Xinjiang.

According to the September 3, 2020 Wall Street Journal, “Disney shared the script with Chinese authorities,” prior to receiving permission to release the film in China.

Mulan’s titular character was played by Chinese-American actress Liu Yifei, who in 2019, expressed support for the police crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

In an October 7, 2020 letter to British legislators, Sean Bailey, President of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, stated:

“In any motion picture production, several factors are considered when making decisions about where to produce the film, including: economics, logistics, accessibility, availability of actors, to name just a few.”

Notably absent was how a production might impact human rights. If one were to “name just a few” factors, it would seem that human rights would be paramount, especially in parts of the world like Xinjiang Province, China.

Information on Disney’s due diligence on human rights, or lack thereof, would allow shareholders to better evaluate business and reputational risks inherent in cooperation with totalitarian and authoritarian regimes that violate human rights.

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