IBM adopted a viewpoint-neutral advertising policy this month after pressure from two conservative organizations, parting ways with a corporate coalition the groups say weaponized ad dollars to censor speech.
The policy change emerged from a shareholder resolution the Heritage Foundation filed in December — drafted with lawyers from the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) — asking the $219 billion tech giant to review how its diversity, equity and inclusion programs affect workplace culture. Rather than face a proxy vote at Tuesday’s shareholder annual meeting, IBM agreed to hard-wire neutrality into its media-buying contracts, according to an ADF press release — the latest in a string of high-profile corporate concessions to conservative investors this year.
“They were literally using their advertising dollars to try to punish people who were engaging in expression they disagree with,” Jeremy Tedesco, senior legal counsel and senior vice president of corporate engagement at ADF, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I think that’s the story here, is if conservative or religious shareholders show up in these boardrooms, they can not only have impact, but drive real institutional change like we’re seeing here with IBM.”
IBM did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
Publicly traded corporations like @IBM should never hide the truth from their shareholders. That’s why ADF is asking the @SECGov to deny a request by IBM to omit its DEI shareholder resolution from the proxy ballot in its upcoming annual meeting.
Read more ⏬…
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) February 16, 2025
The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) sat at the center of the dispute. Formed under the World Federation of Advertisers, the coalition pressed its household-name members to declare large swaths of speech “hate,” “bullying” or “disinformation” and to cut financial ties with outlets that failed its brand-safety tests.
Tedesco called the group a “censorship cartel,” pointing to boycotts of Spotify over its exclusivity deal with Joe Rogan and of Elon Musk’s X after he relaxed content moderation rules. Though lawsuits and negative publicity led GARM to disband in August, he said the danger persists of companies retain policies that let similar alliances re-emerge.
Tedesco said IBM joining GARM exposed the company — and its shareholders — to backlash if it ever deemed a partner podcast, website or social media feed politically problematic. By pledging neutrality, IBM “fortif[ies] the company against this kind of stuff happening again,” he said.
The agreement also allowed Heritage to withdraw its DEI-focused proposal. Tedesco said the two sides reached a deal after IBM already loosened certain DEI mandates under separate pressure, including a June lawsuit from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey alleging illegal race and sex quotas in hiring.
At IBM, we have a long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion, recognizing the unique value and skills every individual brings to the workplace: https://t.co/zviS04SSKX #inclusiveIBM pic.twitter.com/KcwJGUyrEE
— IBM (@IBM) October 3, 2018
IBM is the fifth Fortune 100 firm this year to revise advertising rules following talks with ADF’s shareholder bloc, which includes Inspire Investing, Bowyer Research, the State Financial Officers Foundation and the Heritage Foundation, according ADF documents.
PepsiCo, Comcast, Mastercard and Johnson & Johnson adopted similar language earlier in 2025, while JPMorgan Chase rewrote internal policies to guard against debanking decisions driven by ideology. All told, the coalition counts 20 policy or behavior changes this year and has filed 71 shareholder proposals since January, according to the ADF press release.
Tedesco said the campaign shows conservatives can succeed in a proxy-ballot arena long dominated by left-wing activists.
“One thing that conservatives really need to think about is just how critical it is to take a long view, and an incremental view, of advancing the kind of values and freedoms we want to see restored in our country,” Tedesco said. “We haven’t won the battle for corporations. The left has been battling for the heart and soul of corporations for essentially two decades, if not more, and they’ve been fighting that battle against no one because the right didn’t show up.”
Yet he cautioned that lasting reform depends on continual pressure.
“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and I’ve seen nothing from these companies other than the political winds have shifted sufficiently that they’re starting to listen to somebody other than a left-of-center crowd,” Tedesco said.
BREAKING
ADF calls on corporations to ditch DEI policies in light of 2024 election
We sent letters to all Fortune 1000 companies, signed by dozens of financial advisors including fiscal officers for 28 states, with a clear message: “It is now a liability for any institution… pic.twitter.com/OCaQguoUjS
— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) November 15, 2024
He added that Amazon’s dominance in the digital book market — and its willingness to drop titles it finds objectionable — shows how easily private speech controls can migrate from advertising departments to other corners of the economy.
Even within IBM, Tedesco said, culture change “flows from policy” and will take time.
“This is a significant win, but it’s not like it changes things from night to day overnight — this is all a process,” he said.
IBM’s about-face, Tedesco argued, underscores a broader shift in the boardroom.
“The right just said businesses will never be swayed by all this politicking because politicking isn’t good for business. It doesn’t pay well,” he told the DCNF. “That diagnosis was completely wrong — whether it pays or not, is what I’m saying … Now that [conservatives have] shown up over the last two or three years, significantly in the boardrooms through the proxy process and other things, we’re seeing the impact we can have.”
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