The reported political contributions and lobbying expenditures by Alphabet Inc (the parent organization associated with Chromebooks) suggest a significant allocation of resources to influence political outcomes. This level of financial involvement in politics is concerning from a public and political behavior perspective, as it has the potential to support policies that bolster authoritarian practices. The scale and impact of these expenditures contribute negatively to the company's complicity index.

Alphabet Inc Profile: Summary • OpenSecrets

The report highlights how Alphabet, which guides Chromebooks among other products, ramped up federal lobbying to influence antitrust legislation. Spending $7.43 million in the first half of 2023 and hiring 80 lobbyists (most with public sector experience) demonstrates a deliberate strategy to steer policy in favor of corporate interests, undermining democratic processes and contributing to authoritarian-aligned governance.

Google ramped up federal lobbying ahead of DOJ antitrust showdown • OpenSecrets

The termination of contract workers amid unionization efforts represents a severe undermining of labor rights and fair treatment. By disadvantaging employees seeking to organize, the practice not only violates federal labor protections but also fosters a work environment conducive to authoritarian management. Such actions can indirectly support broader oppressive structures by discouraging collective worker action and reducing accountability.

Google Faces Controversy: Contract Staffers Lose Jobs Amid Unionization Efforts

The article exposes severe labor rights violations within Google's supply chain network. The ongoing use of forced labor raises significant concerns about the company's commitment to protecting workers’ rights and ensuring safe, humane working conditions.

Uncovering Slave Labor in Google’s Supply Chain

The article details how Google’s hardware supply chain is linked to forced labor, with suppliers implicated in serious human rights abuses against Uyghur workers. Chromebooks, as a product within this ecosystem, suffer from the lack of transparency and accountability in auditing its suppliers. This negligence in supply chain ethics renders the company complicit in perpetuating systemic labor abuses.

PDF Uncovering Slave Labor in Google's Supply Chain

The article reports that widespread layoffs at Google have created an environment where workers feel compelled to organize and unionize in response to diminishing job security and deteriorating labor conditions. This reflects negatively on labor relations and human rights practices within the tech giant, suggesting a failure in providing equitable treatment to employees. Although the unionization movement is a positive step towards collective bargaining and improved worker rights, the initial layoffs highlight corporate practices that contribute to economic insecurity, which can be seen as complicit in broader authoritarian economic practices.

Tech Layoffs Are Allowing Tech Workers to Learn How to Unionize

The article details how forced labor, specifically the use of Uyghur workers under oppressive supervision, is reportedly entrenched in the supply chain of laptops that include Chromebooks. The involvement of suppliers, such as Hefei Bitland, in such inhumane labor practices indicates a significant failure in upholding supply chain ethics. By indirectly benefiting from and failing to actively distance itself from these suppliers, the Chromebooks brand is implicated in facilitating conditions that undermine human rights, which is particularly concerning from an anti-fascist and labor rights perspective.

Kids May Be Using Laptops Made With Forced Labor This Fall

The report implicates companies, including those affiliated with Chromebooks, in using forced labor, a grave violation of supply chain ethics. Such practices not only exploit Uighur workers in China but also indicate a broader complicity in authoritarian practices by prioritizing profit over human rights, thus severely lowering the ethical responsibility score in the business practices category.

Apple, Amazon, and Google accused of using Uighur forced labor in China

The article details that Google spent $21.7 million on lobbying, outspending all other tech companies. Given that Chromebooks operate under Google's broader ecosystem, this intense involvement in political lobbying is seen as a method by which corporate power is leveraged to influence democratic policymaking, thereby facilitating authoritarian tendencies.

Google is tech's top spender on lobbying - CNBC