Baidu - 1792 Exchange

Corporate Bias Rating

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Risk Level:

High Risk

Summary:

Baidu is High Risk. The company yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. Baidu embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

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Criteria

Risk Level

Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level

Rationale

While Baidu has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (1). However, it should be noted that the company does have close relations with the CCP.

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level

Rationale

The Baidu Public Welfare Mission is “To subsidize youth, disadvantaged groups, poor areas and social welfare institutions to improve the application of information technology, promote the establishment of public welfare information platforms, and subsidize public welfare projects carrying themes including poverty relief, health, disaster relief, education, environmental protection” (1). Baidu’s charitable giving does not include religious organizations, and the CCP regularly cracks down on religious practices.

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level

Rationale

Baidu does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (1).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level

Rationale

Baidu has created a CCP committee to ensure its policies remain aligned with the goals of the Party (1).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level

Rationale

Since Baidu has a CCP committee at the company, it likely has close economic ties to the ruling government (1). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (2).

Criteria

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level

Rationale

While Baidu cannot make political donations in the United States, the company was involved in a report where a Democrat super PAC was gifted $100,000 in Baidu stock from an anonymous donor (1)(2)(3)(4).

Board Bias

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1792 Exchange has not yet compiled data about the board of directors or political contributions of leadership for this company.