Etsy

New York
Retailing

Risk Level:

Rating - Danger
High Risk

Summary:

Etsy permanently banned a user from its platform who discussed biological scientific opposition to modern-day gender theory. Etsy does not have viewpoint protections for employees and pledges to vet vendors for LGBTQ policies. The company does not donate to ideological groups or discriminate against faith-based charities. In 2016, Etsy did sign a Human Rights Campaign (HRC) letter opposing a religious liberty law in Missouri, but since then has not used its corporate image to support ideological agendas. For these reasons, Etsy receives a "High Risk" rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

Has denied service to 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

Etsy permanently de-platformed evolutionary biologist and writer Colin Wright from its platform without warning or opportunity for remediation (1). In a series of tweets with attached screenshots, Mr. Wright outlines the company’s actions against him for pushing back on postmodern gender theory (2). The company received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the HRC, indicating that the company has pledged to vet its suppliers for LGBTQ policies, among other requirements (3).

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Etsy’s main charitable arm focuses on improving business environments for new business owners/entrepreneurs (1). Etsy also allows its vendors to raise money for other charities of their choice and does not discriminate against faith-based charities (2).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

Etsy states that it provides “equal opportunity in all aspects of employment” and does “not tolerate discrimination, harassment, violence, or threatening behavior of any kind” (1). Yet there are no explicit protections for employees’ religious and political beliefs in the workplace (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

Etsy signed an open letter opposing a religious freedom bill in Missouri in 2016 (1). However, a new CEO took over at Etsy in 2017, and since then, there have been no other public examples of the company corporately advancing an ideological agenda.

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Etsy pledged $500,000 to the Black Lives Matter movement and related organizations (1)(2).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
N/A
Rationale

Etsy does not have a PAC.

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
March 29, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

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