Human Rights Initiatives
Basic approach
The Company respects human rights in accordance with international standards, such as the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" and the United Nations "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights." The Company prohibits any and all discrimination and harassment on the basis of age, gender, nationality, disability or other attributes. The Company has established the "SoftBank Human Rights Policy" and is actively advancing initiatives to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), enabling diverse human resources to demonstrate their individuality and abilities.
Promotion system
The Company’s human rights promotion activities are based on the principles of the "SoftBank Human Rights Policy," which has been approved by the Board of Directors, and are conducted mainly by the "Human Rights Committee." The committee is chaired by the President & CEO, and its members include officers who oversee each division.
The committee has convened every year since FY2020 and promotes the Company's human rights activities through day-to-day activities, including managing human rights due diligence, investigating and addressing matters that may constitute human rights violations, and planning and implementing human rights training to embed awareness of human rights internally. Matters deliberated by the Human Rights Committee are also discussed and reported at Board of Directors meetings.
Human rights due diligence
In accordance with the United Nations "Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights," the Company has established a human rights due diligence process to clarify, evaluate, and identify human rights issues that may pose risks of negative impacts arising from the Company's business activities.
The Company implements appropriate measures to mitigate potential risks. For actual human rights impacts, the Company works to resolve issues by eliminating negative impacts and, when necessary, provides appropriate remedies to victims.
Grievance mechanism
The Company has established consultation channels for all stakeholders connected with the Company, including customers, suppliers, people working in the supply chain and employees, and has put in place a mechanism to ensure that human rights issues related to its business activities are identified and addressed.
In FY2025, there were 11 cases of human rights violations, including harassment, that resulted in disciplinary action against the parties involved. In each case, the Company investigated the facts in a manner that ensured no disadvantage to the individuals seeking consultation, took appropriate action in accordance with internal regulations, and implemented measures to prevent similar cases from recurring. Specifically, based on actual cases, the Company reviewed the content of harassment prevention training for all employees and expanded the content to include types of harassing behaviors, their impacts, and case studies.
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Information on consultation channels is provided on webpages available in Japanese and English.
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Human rights consultation service
The Company has established a permanent consultation service to receive opinions and inquiries regarding human rights from all stakeholders connected with the Company. The Company promptly investigates any issues raised through the consultation service. If an investigation confirms that a human rights violation has occurred, the Company has a system in place to promptly provide relief to the victim, correct the issue and implement measures to prevent recurrence.
Personal information concerning individuals seeking consultation, as well as the opinions and details of consultations, are strictly managed and will not be disclosed outside the Company without the consent of the individual seeking consultation. Opinions and inquiries are accepted through the following contact point. In FY2025, the Company received 14 inquiries, of which 14 have been resolved and 0 remain under consideration.
| SoftBank Human Rights Consultation Service | |
|---|---|
| Phone Number | 0800-888-6554 (toll free) |
| Hours | 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, Japanese national holidays and the year-end and New Year holidays
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Compliance hotline
The Company has established a permanent Compliance Hotline for all employees of the SoftBank Corp. group, including officers, full-time employees, employees accepted on secondment, commissioned employees, contract employees and temporary employees, as a consultation channel for compliance violations, including human rights issues. Anonymous consultations are also accepted to protect the privacy of individuals seeking consultation.
Harassment consultation service
The SoftBank Corp. group takes all reports of harassment seriously. While maintaining confidentiality to ensure that individuals seeking consultation do not suffer any disadvantage, the Group takes appropriate action, including fact-finding investigations, remedial measures and measures to prevent recurrence. Based on this approach, the Group has established a permanent consultation service regarding harassment for all employees, including officers, full-time employees, employees accepted on secondment, commissioned employees, contract employees and temporary employees.
All cases consulted on or reported through the consultation service are investigated by the Human Resources Department, with due consideration given to protecting the privacy of the individual seeking consultation. If an investigation confirms serious harassment, the Disciplinary Review Committee deliberates on disciplinary action against the offending party. The issue is promptly corrected, relief is provided to the individual seeking consultation, and appropriate measures are implemented to prevent recurrence. Details of consultations are strictly managed and will not be reported to any third party without the consent of the individual seeking consultation.
Response to customer harassment
Maintaining an appropriate working environment for employees and others at the Company and its contractors is extremely important for the continued provision of the Company’s services in the future.
The Company believes that, in addition to maintaining good relationships with its valued customers, protecting employees and others from verbal abuse, excessive demands and other such behavior, and creating a work environment where they can work with peace of mind, are essential to providing better services. Based on this belief, the Company has prepared "Our Approach to Customer Harassment."
Cooperation with stakeholders
Stakeholder dialogue
In FY2025, the Company held a stakeholder dialogue on the theme of "Establishment of a human rights consultation service and the importance of supplier surveys." A leading expert in human rights and sustainability management spoke about the essence and practical implementation of corporate human rights due diligence and remedies. Through the exchange of opinions, participants deepened their understanding of the importance of remedy mechanisms.
The Company will continue to hold stakeholder dialogues, setting themes in response to evolving human rights issues, to prevent human rights issues from arising in the Company’s business.
| Event | Date | Speaker | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Seventh Stakeholder Dialogue | February 26, 2026 | Kazuo Tase, Representative Director and CEO, SDG Partners, Inc. | “Establishment of a human rights consultation service and the importance of supplier surveys” Importance of human rights initiatives required of companies |
| The Sixth Stakeholder Dialogue | February 26, 2025 | Hironori Kobayashi, Executive Managing Director, ANA Business Solutions Co., Ltd. | “Creating systems and structures to address customer harassment” Difference between customer harassment and complaints, and how to respond Importance of an organizational response to customer harassment and system development Practical considerations and ensuring psychological safety |
| The Fifth Stakeholder Dialogue | February 27, 2024 | Kento Hoshi, CEO and Representative Director, JobRainbow Co., Ltd. | “Creating an environment where everyone can demonstrate their strengths and take on challenges for growth: Issues and measures related to LGBTQ+ in the workplace” Domestic and international trends related to LGBTQ+ and human rights issues in the workplace |
| The Fourth Stakeholder Dialogue | March 15, 2023 | Associate Professor Kei Narihara, Graduate School of Law, Kyushu University | “AI and human rights: Discrimination by AI and fairness” Mechanisms by which discrimination by AI occurs Human rights issues when using AI and data in telecommunications and IT businesses |
| The Third Stakeholder Dialogue | February 18, 2022 | Akira Hatate, Director, Japan Civil Liberties Union | “Learning from scratch about issues related to foreign workers from the perspective of business and human rights” Human rights issues faced by foreign workers in Japan |
| The Second Stakeholder Dialogue | August 31, 2020 | Daisuke Takahashi, Attorney at Law, Shinwa Sohgoh Law Offices |
“Human rights challenges posed by technological developments”
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| The First Stakeholder Dialogue | August 24, 2020 | Keiichi Ushijima, Adjunct lecturer, Tohoku University Graduate School |
“The role that telecommunications carriers should play in respecting privacy”
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Participation in international initiatives
To further deepen the Company’s human rights awareness-raising activities, the Company has signed the United Nations Global Compact and exchanges opinions with like-minded companies and external stakeholders. Through the United Nations Global Compact, the Company participates in Human Rights Due Diligence Workshops and Human Rights Education Workshops, and continues to engage in dialogue on human rights issues that companies should recognize and address.
Participation in the Tokyo Business Liaison Council
on Human-rights Enlightenment
The Company participates in the Tokyo Business Liaison Council on Human-rights Enlightenment, a forum comprising 120 companies headquartered in Tokyo, with a combined workforce of approximately 1.5 million people. From a corporate perspective, the Company engages in a wide range of activities aimed at resolving various human rights issues, including the Dowa issue, in collaboration with government agencies and economic organizations.