Tech billionaires are tempted by charity-washing against the virus

“Charity-washing”. Or the art of redeeming a reputation by offering money by the millions. The expression, used by the American media Recode in connection with the hundreds of millions of dollars offered by tech billionaires, calls out. On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, Jack Dorsey, co-founder and director of Twitter, announced a billion dollar donation to fight the virus. The opportunity to question the deep motivations behind these gestures.

Jack Dorsey is no exception. But his action is the most impressive: the billion dollars donated to his Start Small foundation represents 28% of his fortune. In comparison, Amazon founder and director Jeff Bezos donated $ 100 million, less than 0.1% of his wealth. The order of magnitude is almost similar for Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and director of Facebook, with his 25 million free. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated $ 100 million for research into a vaccine, while Michael Dell, founder of the eponymous company, also pledged $ 100 million.

Replacement of the State

No one criticizes the donations themselves. In the current emergency, this money is used to finance research, the purchase of equipment or even food for immediate and very tangible effects. The first tranche released by Jack Dorsey, of $ 100,000, will thus go to the American Food Fund, which aims to provide everyone with access to food in the United States. This fund is already funded in particular by Apple and Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs.

“What if we need these resources now and later regret that they [les milliardaires, ndlr] have that power? ” questions Megan Tompkins-Stange, philanthropy researcher cited by Recode. “We need donations from billionaires when a state has failed so abjectly. But opening up these boulevards so that philanthropy provides for public needs, even in the short term, gives them more space after the crisis in order to take advantage of it through a new democratic legitimacy. ”

Our file: This virus that strikes the world

Medical influence

Criticized, like Amazon, for the treatment of their employees, under investigation for their use of personal data of Internet users, the tech giants are under pressure. Hence the temptation for tech billionaires to erase this bad reputation through “charity washing”. “It highlights their heritage, the way they are revered. And sometimes it becomes more difficult to hold them accountable. It is not a criticism of the gifts or of them as individuals. This is a criticism of the dynamics, “said Freada Kapor Klein, herself a tech philanthropist, at Recode.

Another point can be disturbing: the influence of these billionaires on politicians. Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle and organizer of a fundraiser for Donald Trump in February, spoke out in favor of the United States’ test for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine against the coronavirus. This influence of a person without medical knowledge on the president can be problematic, estimates Megan Tompkins-Stange.

Also read: Chloroquine: the underside of controversial research

–