Apple, Youtube and PayPal pledge millions USD with initiatives for racial equality drive

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The efforts join a wave of actions by companies aiming to show support for the black community as recent protests in the United States and elsewhere call attention to longstanding discrimination against African-Americans. Photo: IndiaTimes

Apple Inc. and YouTube each announced $100 million initiatives last week in order to combat racism, with the iPhone maker pledging to invest in education and criminal-justice reform and the Google unit to amplify “the voices of black creators and artists", according to The Wall Street Journal.

The efforts join a wave of actions by big companies, including banks and retailers, aiming to show support for the black community as recent protests in the United States and elsewhere call attention to longstanding discrimination against African Americans, following the death of George Floyd, a black man, while detained by Minneapolis police on May 25.

Apple, YouTube, PayPal pledge millions to racial justice programs. Photo: siliconangle

Tim Cook, Apple Chief Executive, in a video posted to Twitter said the iPhone maker seeks to increase minority representation among the firms it does business with. The programme will start in the US and expand globally over time. It will focus on education, criminal justice reform, and economic equality, he said in an accompanying video.

Tim Cook, Apple Chief Executive. Photo: cafebiz

Apple unveils $100 mn racial equity and justice initiative. Video: Twitter of Tim Cook

At the same time, Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube detailed what the company plans to do to help and protect black communities on the platform in a blog post this afternoon. The fund will support the creation of new YouTube Original programming and help with the development of black creators and artists. “We’re committed to doing better as a platform to center and amplify Black voices and perspectives,” Wojcicki said in the blog post, citing The Verge. Wojcicki also said YouTube will continue to tackle hate and harassment to create a safe environment for black users to freely use the platform, whether it’s viewers watching and commenting on videos or creators making new content on YouTube.

Youtube plans to do to help and protect black communities. Photo: Bloomberg via Getty Images

PayPal Inc. said it will invest $530 million through PayPal Ventures, with $500 million going toward minority businesses and startups. A further $15 million will be used to foster diversity in the company, and another $15 million will go to emergency grants for black-owned U.S. businesses that have been crippled by the coronavirus lockdown, revealed Siliconangle, a US-based news agency focusing on the voice of enterprise and emerging tech.

“For far too long, Black people in America have faced deep-seated injustice and systemic economic inequality. Black lives matter and we need to drive transformative change,” PayPal Chief Executive Dan Schulman said in a statement.

PayPal Inc. said it will invest millions of USD for justice initiatives. Photo: Getty Images

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