Sony

Japan
Consumer Durables and Apparel, Media and Entertainment

Risk Level:

Rating - Caution
Medium Risk

Summary:

Sony Corporation of America (Sony) does not have viewpoint protections for employees, although it has not publicly fired employees or canceled contracts due to political or religious beliefs. The company supports the Equality Act and prohibits donations to religious organizations such as houses of worship. Sony uses corporate funds to pay for abortions and support the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. For these reasons, Sony receives a "Medium 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

Sony received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign (1). Among other requirements, this means the company has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies. There are no publicly known cases of employees being fired for religious or political beliefs, however.

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Sony will not give to “religious organizations in support of their sacramental or theological functions” (1). It is not clear if Sony would give to a faith-based nonprofit aligned with its giving priorities.

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Sony does not protect its employees from viewpoint discrimination (1).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Sony USA signed an open letter in support of the Equality Act and advocated for LGBTQ causes (1)(2). It has not otherwise used its corporate image to advance ideological causes or policies.

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Sony ran a matching campaign for employee donations to the BLM organization (1). Sony will pay for employees’ travel for an abortion and funds abortion groups (2).

Criteria

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

Risk Level
Rationale

Sony has not donated to ideological PACs (1).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
March 24, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

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