Catholic sisters push Palantir on human rights as faith leaders rally in New York
After this report, Palantir investors on Wednesday (June 3) voted against two shareholders’ proposals asking for human rights reviews. The company’s founders, CEO Alex Karp, co-founder Stephen Cohen and Chairman Peter Thiel, hold 49.99% of voting power.
NEW YORK (RNS) — Catholic sisters, investors and immigrant rights activists plan to rally on Wednesday (June 3) outside of Palantir Technologies’ New York office, 30 minutes before the company will hold its annual general meeting and considered two shareholders’ proposals calling on Palantir to conduct a human rights review of its work.
“We’re investors, but we’re also Catholics,” said Sister Susan Francois, assistant congregation leader and treasurer of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and the lead filer of one of the shareholder proposals, called Proposal 5. “When we see potential risks to the company that are also causing harm to the human community, we feel that it is of a moral and business imperative to raise the question.”
Proposal 5 calls on Palantir to conduct and publish a human rights impact assessment of its work, which includes selling artificial intelligence tools to U.S. and foreign militaries and governments. Last year Palantir won a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to develop surveillance systems for immigration enforcement. Proposal 5 raises concerns about Palantir’s work with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as the privacy implications of its use of health and other personal data. The other related proposal was filed by the Presbyterian Church of the U.S.A, Portico Benefit Services and the Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate-US.
Immigrant community members, activists, investors and faith leaders plan to rally Wednesday outside Palantir’s office at 620 Sixth Ave. in New York beginning at 9:30 a.m., just 30 minutes before the annual meeting. Marcela Taracena, communications manager for Make the Road, the immigrant advocacy group organizing the rally, said Wednesday’s rally marks the first time the group has coordinated with faith leaders to oppose Palantir. “This issue isn’t just like an immigrant issue, it’s a holistic issue, and it touches around every single part of our society, right, on privacy, on surveillance, on making sure that we’re being treated with all of the human rights and civil rights that we have,” she said.
Palantir did not respond to a request for comment about the rally.
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The sisters originally filed the proposal in December after raising concerns about the human rights impact of the company’s technology. In a statement opposing the proposal, Palantir said a human rights impact assessment would provide no “materially useful information” and cited confidentiality obligations.
The Catholic order and Investor Advocates for Social Justice, which partnered on the proposal, said they will continue pressing Palantir as public concern mounts over the company’s technology and its potential human rights implications.
Palantir logo on a dark background. (Photo by Salvador Rios/Unsplash/Creative Commons)
In his recently published encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” Pope Leo XIV warned against technologies that reduce people to data, and he called for standards based on “the dignity of the human person,” care for the poor, peace and the “assessment of human and social impact.”
“The economy is meant to serve the people of God, not to harm the people of God, and so economics is always tied to faith,” Francois said. “We cannot separate our economic life and our technological life from the pursuit of the common good, and that is what my faith is all about.”
Aaron Acosta, program director at Investor Advocates for Social Justice, said Proposal 5 could be defeated with low overall support because of Palantir’s insider voting power. But he said that result may not reflect how independent shareholders view the proposal.
On May 14, 34 investors representing what they say is more than $336 billion in assets sent a letter to Palantir’s board expressing concern about what they called insufficient due diligence and transparency regarding use of the company’s products.
In February, the New York City comptroller urged Palantir to commission an independent human rights risk assessment related to its work with DHS and ICE. ABP, the Netherlands’ largest pension fund, recently divested from Palantir, while pension funds in several U.S. states are reportedly facing pressure from beneficiaries to do the same.
“I think this is a good signal that investors are waking up and more willing to speak out against what they perceive as injustices or human rights violations,” Acosta said.
Francois said the goal is not simply to win. She said a strong vote could push Palantir back into talks about whether it is following its own human rights policies.
“We are always about using our resources to promote our mission, and our mission is to promote peace through justice,” Francois said. “Why would we want to make money off of companies that are harming those who are vulnerable?”