Twitter announced plans to launch a political donations transparency page, where it will list the company’s stance on a myriad of social issues from free speech and privacy to online abuse and copyright issues.
The new transparency site will detail Twitter’s political involvement through its political action campaign (PAC) donations in the U.S. with hopes of expanding its lobbying efforts overseas.
“Our #PAC is one of the tools Twitter can use to defend and respect the user’s voice. Expanding our involvement in policy debates and the political process is an important aspect of stating our position on issues that affect the interests of our users and the company’s goals,” Tom Tarantino, Twitter’s public policy manager wrote in a blog post announcing the move Wednesday.
PACs in general can only donate up to $10,000 per federal candidate or campaign each year. Twitter’s PAC will disclose information about its donations when they are made, rather than when filing the periodic contribution reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Tarantino said the PAC will primarily contribute to candidates who “actively engage” on issues surrounding internet freedom, government surveillance reform, digital privacy protections, and patent reform. (Twitter demonstrated its stance on intellectual property rights in October when it shut down the accounts of two media sites, SB Nation and Deadspin, for posting GIFs of copyrighted football highlights.)
“We will conduct our #PAC activities with a high degree of transparency. In addition to posting our, policies, and FEC reports, we are also committing to post notice of all donations to candidates within 48 hours,” Tarantino wrote.
Twitter’s activism comes amid growing financial concerns as the company struggles with slipping stock prices, stagnant user rates, layoffs, and leadership changes. The company hired lobbyists earlier this year to help the company establish its political foothold in Washington, D.C., the Hill reported, and has outspent last years lobbying costs to the tune of $330,000.
Twitter, along with other tech companies, has been criticized in the past for not being transparent enough about its views on civil rights or ethical issues. But Wednesday’s move and recent behavior seems to indicate the microblogging company will take a new direction.
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly named the government agency responsible for political donations.