Around 41% of Apple’s shareholders supported a human rights-related proposal critical of the company’s removal of apps at the request of the Chinese government at the iPhone maker’s annual shareholder meeting on Feb. 26.
The proposal asked the company to report annually to shareholders on its policies on freedom of expression and access to information and the actions it had taken in response to government demands relating to those issues. Though Apple’s owners overall voted down the proposal, in line with the company’s recommendation, it drew a much higher proportion of votes than similar proposals in previous years which had gained support only in single-digit percentages.
Proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services both recommended votes in favor of the measure.