The company which is 70% owned by AT&T, dropped conservative cable networks Newsmax and OANN. However, DirecTV brought Newsmax back on air after pushback and striking a new cable deal with the network. AT&T previously banned advertising on Breitbart News, although the CEO later changed this decision after receiving pushback. The company was involved in a controversy surrounding the cancellation of a Trump campaign texting program, though the company and its industry peers claimed that a third-party anti-spam detection software caused the problem rather than political intervention. AT&T scored a 100 out of 100 on the 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group. By complying with the HRC’s controversial demands, AT&T increases the risk of dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders. It also uses sex and gender ideology criteria in employee recruitment, vendor selection, marketing, and philanthropic support. AT&T forces employees to undergo multiple ideological trainings and uses its reputation, corporate funds, and political influence to support controversial sex and gender ideologies, organizations, and legislation. DirecTV provides a benefits package for employees which covers travel/lodging costs for an abortion and transgender medical procedures for covered employees and dependents, including children. AT&T implemented and expanded unconscious bias education and training. The company’s CEO, John Stanley, signed the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge, which includes a commitment to promote DEI through bias education training in the workplace. AT&T supports the Equality Act and ESG within its business practices. The company is a signatory of the Business Roundtable's 2019 Statement on the Purpose of Corporation, which promotes stakeholder capitalism. AT&T opposed various state and local legislation intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces. The company pledged over $20 million to BLM and related causes and funds the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). AT&T has used its political contributions for ideological purposes. For these reasons, AT&T receives a High Risk rating.