Google Gives $11.5M to Fight Slavery

Google has made what is believed to be the biggest-ever corporate contribution to the fight against modern-day slavery. As part of $40 million in donations the search-engine king is making over the holiday season, Google coughed up $11.5 million to organizations working to end human trafficking, CNN reports. Up to 30 million people worldwide are believed to be enslaved, and experts estimate that Google's donation will rescue up to 12,000 of those, and prevent millions more from falling victim.

"This is the largest corporate step up to the challenge that is beginning to apply direct resources to the fight against slavery," says the chief of International Justice Mission, a Washington-based human rights agency that is receiving a Google grant. Google's director of charitable giving says the company decided to focus on slavery this year "because there is nothing more fundamental than freedom." (More slavery stories.)