SW News: A survey that rates the practices of 75 large American corporations revealed that in practically every company, there was blatant contempt for the rights to free speech and religion.

The American legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in its latest report shows that only eight businesses had improved since the previous year. Each company was given a score based on three different factors: the market score, which takes into account how it treats its clients and suppliers; the workplace score, which takes into account how it treats its employees; and the public square score, which takes into account how much money it spends on politics and how it publicly stands on issues like free speech and religious liberty.

In the ADF's 2023 Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index, which combines all three criteria, over two-thirds of the firms assessed in the research had a score of 10% or below. A rating of 5% or less was achieved by 13% of the companies. Only five businesses received a grade of 15% or better.

ADF Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President for Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco said in a statement that threats to freedom don’t just come from the government but from major corporations like financial institutions and big tech companies that have concentrated power over essential services and communication channels.

Fidelity National Information Services scored the highest rating, receiving 50%. M&T Bank, which obtained a rating of 27%, was the second-best corporation, while BOK Financial, which had a rating of 17%, was the third-best. With ratings of 15%, Fifth Third Bancorp and Apollo Global Management tied for fourth place. Airbnb received a score of 2%, Alphabet had a score of 4%, and Amazon received a score of 4%. Twitter, Walt Disney, Pinterest, Microsoft, eBay, and PayPal Holdings all received a score of 5%.

The Business Index concentrated its attention for the second consecutive year on sectors that have the greatest potential to affect people's or organizations' freedom of speech or religion. These include sectors that offer crucial banking, payment processing, cloud computing, or speech platforms for third parties. The media and entertainment companies Disney (5%), Comcast (7%), Netflix (10%), and Warner Bros. Discovery (8%) were also added for the 2023 edition.

The growing dependence on policies that use ambiguous or ambiguous phrases like "hate" or "intolerance," under which they might censor content or refuse service based on opinion, is another issue contributing to organizations' poor performance.

“All Americans benefit when powerful corporations respect free speech and religious freedom,” Tedesco said.

“Our goal is to help the largest corporations implement positive and lasting changes that protect everyone’s free speech and religious freedom from corporate overreach. Each survey completed, the resolution filed, and conversation with senior leadership advances the ball,” he concluded.