A Canadian trade union has called on AI services and news provider Thomson Reuters to align its governance with the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, after the company’s artificial intelligence product was linked to Donald Trump’s aggressive anti-immigration campaign involving raids across the US.

The British Columbia General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) has made the request in a shareholder proposal ahead of Thomson Reuters’ AGM on 4 June in Toronto. It may be the first significant example of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s campaign prompting serious governance concerns for a company. Campaigners have established that many of those deported were in the US legally.

In its statement, BCGEU, says: “Thomson Reuters’ products have been directly linked to immigrant raids across the US which have been widely recognised as violating multiple rights including privacy violations, racial profiling, denial of due process and disproportionate surveillance of marginalised communities.

‘Risk to investors’

“We argue that the Company’s role in these controversial practices presents a risk to investors. As [Thomson Reuters] rapidly expands its AI and GenAI technology offerings, risk may increase.”

At issue is ICE’s use of Thomson Reuters’ CLEAR investigative AI, which can search mentions of people on both public and proprietary databases as well as help depict their personal contacts and networks.

While it is used by ICE, Thomson Reuters’ proxy circular says it is given for free to Canada’s National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

Under a section headed: “Fun Facts”, the circular says: “Our products combine highly specialised software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth and transparency.”

Thomson Reuters also provides journalism that has contained reports on the ICE raids.

A matter of principles

BCGEU’s specific request is that Thomson Reuters ensures that AI governance is aligned with the guiding principles and ensure that its current guiding Trust Principles are “sufficient for proactively governing AI-related risks”.

Thomson Reuters’ board recommends shareholders vote against the proposal. Its management circular says that it has a “rigorous” set of data and AI principles which it has drawn from publicly available guidelines, including the UN Guiding Principles.

“At Thomson Reuters,” the company writes, “we prioritise safe, responsible development and the ethical use of artificial intelligence.

“Our proprietary content and technology, deep knowledge of the professionals we serve and focus on data privacy underscore Thomson Reuters’ commitment to a trusted customer experience.”

Canada and the US have clashed since the election of Donald Trump, who called for America’s neighbours to become the 51st state of the US and imposed trade tariffs on Canadian goods, ushering in a new era of animosity between the two countries.

Canadian expert Richard Leblanc has written that the trade clash will require a number of governance “enhancements”.

“A board of directors should be overseeing and advising management’s response to the United States’ tariffs, but should also be constituting itself to ensure that such oversight and advice to managements is the best it can be, to benefit the company at this time.”