Dealflow | April 7, 2017

Omidyar Network pledges $100 million to fix global trust deficit

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Omidyar Network has pledged $100 million to fix the global trust deficit.

“A lack of government responsiveness and a growing distrust in institutions, especially the media, are eroding trust,” said Matt Bannick, managing partner of the philanthropic investment firm of eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar, and his wife, Pam.

At the Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England, the firm announced a three-year, $100 million pledge to combat misinformation and hate speech, and support civic participation.

The commitment included a new $4.5 million grant to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which last year broke the “Panama Papers” tax evasion story.

Also included in the pledge was a previously announced grant to the Anti-Defamation League, which is building a command center in Silicon Valley to combat hate speech online, and a grant to Alianza Latinoamericana para la Tecnología Cívica, a project to promote civic engagement through tech innovation in Latin America.

Omidyar Network has made grants and investments totaling $220 million over the last decade to drive accountability and transparency in government.

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