Most of us are familiar with the threat Big Tech companies pose to freedom of speech.
Even more alarming is the recent trend of politicized de-banking.
It’s bad enough to lose access to Twitter, but it’s far worse to lose access to essential financial services for your political or religious views.
That’s why Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is calling on J.P. Morgan Chase to come clean about its apparent pattern of viewpoint-based de-banking by participating in the survey portion of Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index.
When faced with public scrutiny about its suspension of religious and politically affiliated accounts in May, a spokesperson for J.P. Morgan Chase told The Wall Street Journal that it was “actively considering participating in the survey in its 2023 round.”
But the nation’s largest bank has yet to follow through on this.
“Providing insight into the bank’s approach to viewpoint diversity is a critical first step to reforming the practices that have led to persistent unequal treatment at Chase,” AG Cameron wrote in a statement issued on June 14. “Our hope is that the openness and inclusivity Chase professes will soon be extended to everyone, regardless of their religious or political affiliation.”
AG Cameron observes that JP Morgan Chase touts its participation in several other questionnaires, including the Human Rights Campaign’s so-called “Corporate Equality Index,” which now requires companies to pay for gender transition surgery for minors in order to earn a 100% rating.
In contrast to other surveys, the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index doesn’t make companies adopt radical stances on divisive social issues. It simply asks companies to respect everyone’s freedoms.
Read AG Cameron’s full statement here.