Blog

Global Business & Human Rights

Our Global Business & Human Rights blog features nuanced discussion regarding the responsibilities of multinational companies, governments and multilateral institutions towards sustainability, with a particular focus on international human rights.

Congress Begins 2024 with New Federal Human Rights Guidance in Sight
Blog February 01, 2024
A few days before Christmas, the Senate followed the House in bringing its legislative year to a swift but unsatisfying end. Although enough bipartisan goodwill was mustered to pass a massive National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024, lawmakers remain embroiled in bitter partisan squabbles that are paralyzing critical federal funding measures…
Foley Hoag Conducts Independent Human Rights Impact Assessment Commissioned by Microsoft
Blog July 06, 2023
Microsoft commissioned Foley Hoag to conduct a human rights impact assessment (HRIA) on the impact of Microsoft's cloud and artificial intelligence technologies.  Specifically, we sought to understand the impacts that such technologies have on communities of color in the United States when those technologies are licensed to law enforcement agencies.  Microsoft commissioned the HRIA in response to a shareholder letter expressing concern regarding the human rights impact of certain Microsoft……
COVID-19 and Global Human Rights: Shifting Priorities for Governments, Civil Society, and Companies
Blog April 16, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most significant global public health crises since the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-20. The spread of the Coronavirus through every continent and major metropolis has led to unprecedented policy responses from governments both large and small. As a result, the human rights community is more closely scrutinizing the impact of these responses, while many company operations are more likely to overlap with the pandemic and evolving government policy in some……
#EthicalOS - A New Guide Aims to Mitigate the Downsides of Technological Advancements
Blog August 15, 2018
On August 7, the Omidyar Networks Tech and Society Solutions Lab and the Institute for the Future (IFTF) launched a new toolkit, The Ethical Operating System (Ethical OS), to help guide technologists in building preventing, mitigation, and correcting the social downsides of technology while also maximizing positive impacts. The guide, which has already been piloted by 20 companies, uses checklists, scenarios, and exercises to help companies anticipate problems and to develop appropriate……
California Passes New Data Privacy Law With National Implications
Blog July 18, 2018
This post, written by Christopher Hart, was originally posted on Foley Hoag's Security, Privacy and the Law blog. *     *     *     *     * The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”) was signed into law on June 28, 2018. Although it is a state law, it has national and international ramifications…
Five on Friday – Five Recent Developments that We've Been Watching Closely
Blog June 29, 2018
Its Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we've been monitoring. This week's post includes: the dismissal of a climate change lawsuit brought by the cities of San Francisco and Oakland; the launch of the Centre for Sport and Human Rights; and a new benchmarking report from Know the Chain. On June 18, Know the Chain published its second benchmarking report of information and communications technology (“ICT”) companies…
Five on Friday – Five Recent Developments that We've Been Watching Closely
Blog April 20, 2018
Its Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we've been monitoring. This week's post includes: new reports on product liability law and the Internet of Things, Bangladeshs garment sector, and corporate lobbying on climate change, diversity and inclusion, and tax reform; and a new lawsuit seeing to hold oil companies accountable for the costs of climate change…
Mark Zuckerberg, FOSTA-SESTA, and the Challenges of Content Moderation
Blog April 18, 2018
In his testimony before Congress last week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg observed that, on issues ranging from fake news to hate speech, the company didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. Looking ahead, it remains to be seen what a broad enough view means for companies that both host online content. When the content that you and I see on various websites is determined by a complex ecosystem of content writers…
Five on Friday – Five Recent Developments that We've Been Watching Closely
Blog April 06, 2018
Its Friday and time for another overview of developments in the field of business and human rights that we've been monitoring. This week's post includes: two new reports looking at corporate compliance with the U.K. Modern Slavery Act and best practices with respect to efforts to address the risks of forced labor; and the release of a Frequently Asked Questions document by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding the presumption that goods made by North Korean workers are made……
1 of 7

Blog Editors

ABOUT

Foley Hoag’s Global Business and Human Rights practice provides counsel to multinational companies, governments, and multilateral institutions regarding social, political, and environmental challenges.

Our advice to clients encompasses legal and reputational risk management with respect to human rights, including labor rights and the rights of indigenous peoples; the design and implementation of stakeholder engagement programs; and professional auditing services, ranging from due diligence desk-top analyses to on-the-ground human rights impact assessments and the monitoring of social, human rights, and environmental initiatives.

In addition, we provide clients with crisis management and mediation services with respect to disputes with impacted communities and stakeholder groups, ranging from indigenous peoples to non-governmental organizations.