Beyond Compliance: Assessing Modern Slavery Statements using the Wikirate platform

Modern slavery impacts millions of people worldwide, posing urgent ethical and human rights challenges In response, the UK and Australian Modern Slavery Acts require companies meeting specific revenue thresholds to produce annual modern slavery statements, aiming to increase accountability in addressing modern slavery risks. Since 2016, Walk Free and Wikirate have partnered to assess companies’ response to these Acts, leveraging Wikirate’s open-data platform. This assessment considers whether companies are releasing statements that meet the legal requirements, but also if they detail policies and actions that go beyond compliance to enable businesses to better respond to modern slavery. Key to this initiative is its open, collaborative approach, and therefore, a set of accessible metrics on Wikirate that empowers non-expert researchers to contribute meaningfully. Through the project, volunteers and researchers have conducted an in-depth analysis of over 2000 MSA statements. Over the years, the project has mobilized thousands of volunteers and engaged over 20 universities worldwide, using Wikirate’s crowdsourcing platform to organize and perform research at scale. The insights generated through the research not only inform Walk Free’s advocacy efforts with governments and companies but also demonstrate the power of open research principles in tackling complex global issues.