Environmental, Social, and Governance / Our Value Chain

Our Value Chain

We partner with diverse suppliers to tell stories that reflect all our viewers, in a safe, family-friendly environment.

Jump to: Business Ethics/Fair Business Practices | Responsible Advertising & Marketing | Data Privacy & Security | Supplier Diversity & Inclusion

  • Business Ethics/Fair Business Practices

  • Discovery is committed to a culture of integrity, compliance, and human rights by treating all workers with respect and conducting ethical business operations. We conduct business in a manner that respects the human rights and dignity of all, and we comply with all applicable laws where Discovery operates. Learn and understand the role of ethics and compliance at the Company below.
  • Discovery embeds the practice of compliance and governance into every aspect of its business
  • We recognize our reputation to act ethically, responsibly and make decisions with integrity is a valuable competitive advantage and a core value at Discovery. We are committed to maintaining a compliant culture in every Discovery business and everywhere we operate globally. 
  • At the foundation of Discovery’s Ethics & Compliance Program is Guiding Principle, Do the Right Thing
  • One of our Guiding Principles is Do the Right Thing. Our Code of Ethics is underscored by the values of ethical conduct, tolerance, respect, and doing the right thing. Our Code reflects our commitment to act with integrity, which is an expectation of every employee. This expectation is introduced by our Code of Ethics and is sustained by a comprehensive system of policies, processes, training, and communications. Our Code of Ethics is available in 14 different languages.
  • Discovery is committed to the highest ethical standards
  • Our commitment begins with leadership. Discovery leaders across its businesses drive a culture of ethics and integrity everywhere Discovery operates.
  • The Ethics & Compliance program is designed to promote a culture of ethical conduct, built for flexibility to remain relevant for an evolving global community, and supported by sound compliance processes. The program is led by Discovery EVP and General Counsel – reporting directly to Discovery Chief Legal Officer and communicating with Discovery CEO and Board – and supported by a team of compliance officers. The compliance officers are experienced and participate as members in leading compliance professional organizations, such as Society of Corporate Compliance & Ethics (SCCE) and Ethics & Compliance Initiative (ECI), to keep abreast of best practices, industry and regulatory developments, and interact with professional peers worldwide.
  • Discovery utilizes practical, targeted training and communication tools to educate its workforce, raise their level of awareness and sensitivity to key risks, and provide best practices to guide behavior. We expect and encourage our employees to make ethical decisions with candor and transparency.
  • The Ethics & Compliance program promotes our standards of behavior
  • Our Ethics & Compliance program ensures that how we do business is aligned with our Guiding Principles and applicable laws and regulations in countries where we operate. It has three pillars:

  • Prevention – drive a culture of integrity at all levels and prevent ethics and compliance and regulatory problems.

  • Detection – encourage employees to speak up and give voice to their concerns for issues that may occur at the earliest possible stage.

  • Response – utilize internal and external tools to respond quickly and thoroughly, investigate, and if necessary, implement corrective measures and use what we learn to continually improve.

  • Our program is built to evolve with emerging risks
  • The Ethics & Compliance program relies on experts and digital tools to stay ahead of significant compliance risks. Discovery has a third-party risk management program with detailed internal processes required before certain business activities can be undertaken by the Company. The Ethics & Compliance team identifies a wide variety of risks that must be evaluated and disclosed as part of the approval process.
  • Discovery’s third-party risk management program is a cross-functional effort supported by internal reviews and due diligence efforts. We take a risk-based approach to review and mitigate higher risk transactions and partners. For example, when it comes to modern slavery, we have distributed questionnaires to existing and potential partners in hospitality, manufacturing, and licensing to gain insight into their practices. Discovery requests its licensees and third-party manufacturers who create branded goods or items for or on behalf of the Company, to acknowledge Discovery’s Product Safety Guidelines and our Statement on Child & Forced Labor. In addition, manufacturers must submit a social compliance audit noting adherence on the issues of labor, health, safety, and the environment to ensure we only do business with ethical companies aligned with Discovery’s values and ethical standards.
  • Additionally, we establish expectations of ethical business practice with our business partners through education, legal representations regarding bribery, corruption, sanctions, ethics, and a written commitment and acknowledgment via our Business Partner Statement of Ethics.
  • We encourage an open environment to speak up and raise concerns
  • We encourage our employees and business partners to make ethical decisions and to speak up when faced with potential issues or difficult situations.
  • Discovery employees are our first and best line of defense in early detection of potential compliance issues. Employees are encouraged to raise ethical concerns and feel comfortable and confident that they can do so without fear of retaliation. We offer our employees and business partners different internal channels and grievance mechanisms for reporting concerns, including anonymously where allowed, and the Company has an ethics hotline that is publicly available by phone and website.
  • Discovery fully examines every compliance concern raised and takes necessary corrective actions where appropriate.
  • Updated: 12/22/2021 

    • Responsible Advertising & Marketing

    • In our endeavor to bring quality programming to our viewers, we make every effort to ensure that the commercial content we schedule aligns with our viewers’ and advertisers’ expectations for responsible advertising and marketing. Working with our internal and external business partners, our goal is to flag advertising that may be deemed questionable during our review process. Should the advertising be deemed inappropriate for some of our viewers, we work to schedule these commercials outside of programming that features children or that is considered “high-profile” whenever possible. Advertising deemed inappropriate may include programming carrying the relevant ratings for violence or products intended for a mature audience as required by the various territories where Discovery content is viewed. We also require that commercial content complies with all applicable laws and regulations and that any statements made in such content be truthful and subject to substantiation upon our request. We also reserve the right to reject or request alterations to content we determine promotes stereotypes based on gender, race, sexuality, or religion. In addition, viewers can alert us to any concerns they may have through viewer relations contact links on our websites.
    • Discovery is proud to partner with organizations that share our values and commitment to social and environmental causes. Through our Social Good initiatives, we collaborate with like-minded businesses and advertisers to drive awareness and increase overall impact in the communities we serve. Examples include:

    • Through Turn Up! Fight Hunger, we partnered with Kellogg Company to ignite their audiences to help end childhood hunger in America by providing actionable tools in support of families in need across the U.S.

    • Through Project C.A.T., we worked with Geico in sponsorship of the film TIGERLAND to further our mission of ensuring a healthy habitat for tigers and other endangered wildlife.

    • Through Eurosport’s PURE ETCR all-electric multi-brand touring car championship, Eurosport has partnered with Goodyear to serve as the series’ founding partner and official tire supplier. Together, the goal is to use racing to develop technology to thrill the next generation of high-performance drivers.

  • Updated: 12/22/2021  

  • Data Privacy & Security

  • Discovery views data protection as a fundamental component of the trusted relationship it has with its customers, business partners, and employees around the world. To ensure that trust is maintained, Discovery is focused not only on building security and privacy programs for legal compliance and risk management, but also on building a company culture in which responsible stewardship of data is understood by every member of the Discovery team to be a core value of the organization and a central tenet of how we do business day-to-day.
  • Discovery has invested in dedicated teams of experts who are focused squarely on data protection — Discovery’s Information Security team manages and monitors security of data and systems, and our Privacy Office ensures that Discovery handles personal data in a manner that is fair, ethical, and transparent, as well as compliant with the law. These teams work collaboratively with each other and in partnership with our global business teams, and they ensure that our employees are trained extensively on data protection and the steps needed to build privacy and security by design into everything we do. Discovery’s InfoSec and Privacy Office teams are supported by Data Protection Officers in Europe and Brazil and by internal Privacy Champions who act as data protection liaisons for their business teams.
  • Discovery has a comprehensive information security management program led by Discovery’s Chief Information Security Officer. Discovery’s program is based on best practices and industry-standard frameworks including ISO 27001 and NIST, and is comprised of: Information Security Governance, Risk, Data Security, Compliance, Application Security/Development Security Operations, Cyber Security Operations, IT Security Architecture and Engineering, eDiscovery, and Forensics.
  • Discovery’s commitment to data protection is furthered through its participation in a variety of organizations and working groups centered on data protection, particularly on the privacy impacts of emerging and evolving technologies, as we seek to be actively engaged in the local, regional, and global conversations around privacy that impact our industry, our organization, and our customers in ever-evolving ways.
  • Updated: 08/24/2021  

  • Supplier Diversity & Inclusion

  • At Discovery, we value and prioritize diversity. It enables us to tap into new ideas that add value to our operations, strengthen our brands, and fuel innovation among our teams. Discovery has a dedicated team committed to enhancing supplier diversity within the global organization, one of the numerous task forces through our Mosaic activation dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion across major business touchpoints. Discovery’s Supplier Diversity program is designed to promote, increase, and improve the participation of diverse businesses within our organizational supply chain and investment portfolio. Our Supplier Diversity program focuses on the following areas:

  • Identification

  • We work with various partners and organizations around the globe to facilitate an introduction to new, diverse suppliers.
  • We also welcome diverse suppliers to connect with us directly! Click here for our Supplier Diversity website.

  • Assessment & Qualification

  • We’re proud to welcome new profiles into our business. To ensure a successful partnership, all suppliers are thoroughly vetted and reviewed in line with our procurement practices.
  • We facilitate an introduction of qualified diverse suppliers to the areas of our business in which they best align for future consideration and engagement.

  • Outreach & Development

  • By investing in the development of diverse suppliers, we know we are investing in Discovery and the broader media industry.
  • In joining our supplier diversity network, we will connect and engage with diverse suppliers in an effort to grow and sustain a steady supply of talented partners.
  • See our compliance statement to the Modern Slavery Act here and our Code of Ethics here.
  • Updated: 04/24/2021