#corporations — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #corporations, aggregated by home.social.
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🚬🥦 "UC Berkeley unravels the shocking mystery: #tobacco companies invented junk food! Next, they'll reveal that Big Oil is responsible for greasy #pizza. 🍕🕵️♂️ Thanks, Berkeley, for pointing out that #corporations like profit! 💡"
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/how-tobacco-industry-drove-rise-ultra-processed-foods #UCberkeley #junkfood #BigOil #HackerNews #ngated -
🚬🥦 "UC Berkeley unravels the shocking mystery: #tobacco companies invented junk food! Next, they'll reveal that Big Oil is responsible for greasy #pizza. 🍕🕵️♂️ Thanks, Berkeley, for pointing out that #corporations like profit! 💡"
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/how-tobacco-industry-drove-rise-ultra-processed-foods #UCberkeley #junkfood #BigOil #HackerNews #ngated -
🚬🥦 "UC Berkeley unravels the shocking mystery: #tobacco companies invented junk food! Next, they'll reveal that Big Oil is responsible for greasy #pizza. 🍕🕵️♂️ Thanks, Berkeley, for pointing out that #corporations like profit! 💡"
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/how-tobacco-industry-drove-rise-ultra-processed-foods #UCberkeley #junkfood #BigOil #HackerNews #ngated -
🚬🥦 "UC Berkeley unravels the shocking mystery: #tobacco companies invented junk food! Next, they'll reveal that Big Oil is responsible for greasy #pizza. 🍕🕵️♂️ Thanks, Berkeley, for pointing out that #corporations like profit! 💡"
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/how-tobacco-industry-drove-rise-ultra-processed-foods #UCberkeley #junkfood #BigOil #HackerNews #ngated -
🚬🥦 "UC Berkeley unravels the shocking mystery: #tobacco companies invented junk food! Next, they'll reveal that Big Oil is responsible for greasy #pizza. 🍕🕵️♂️ Thanks, Berkeley, for pointing out that #corporations like profit! 💡"
https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/how-tobacco-industry-drove-rise-ultra-processed-foods #UCberkeley #junkfood #BigOil #HackerNews #ngated -
And here’s another one: paying attention to your shareholders instead of your customers is like your parents supported you throughout your life to allow you to progress, and when you’re able to buy your first home you only invite the bank manager who gave you the mortgage to the inauguration. I mean, again, talking about being ungrateful with those who made you who you are… 🙄
#latestagecapitalism #rentiereconomy #enshittification #fafo #corporations
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And here’s another one: paying attention to your shareholders instead of your customers is like your parents supported you throughout your life to allow you to progress, and when you’re able to buy your first home you only invite the bank manager who gave you the mortgage to the inauguration. I mean, again, talking about being ungrateful with those who made you who you are… 🙄
#latestagecapitalism #rentiereconomy #enshittification #fafo #corporations
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And here’s another one: paying attention to your shareholders instead of your customers is like your parents supported you throughout your life to allow you to progress, and when you’re able to buy your first home you only invite the bank manager who gave you the mortgage to the inauguration. I mean, again, talking about being ungrateful with those who made you who you are… 🙄
#latestagecapitalism #rentiereconomy #enshittification #fafo #corporations
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And here’s another one: paying attention to your shareholders instead of your customers is like your parents supported you throughout your life to allow you to progress, and when you’re able to buy your first home you only invite the bank manager who gave you the mortgage to the inauguration. I mean, again, talking about being ungrateful with those who made you who you are… 🙄
#latestagecapitalism #rentiereconomy #enshittification #fafo #corporations
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And here’s another one: paying attention to your shareholders instead of your customers is like your parents supported you throughout your life to allow you to progress, and when you’re able to buy your first home you only invite the bank manager who gave you the mortgage to the inauguration. I mean, again, talking about being ungrateful with those who made you who you are… 🙄
#latestagecapitalism #rentiereconomy #enshittification #fafo #corporations
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Some "good" headlines of recent days: #Anthropic the paragon of virtue! The world a better place if we buy useless crap from European #corporations, not U.S. ones! #Solar makes us independent of oil and #geopolitics!
Last time I checked, though, #Amodei is still an utterly deluded #broligarch, European corporations are just as greedy as U.S. ones, and #solar_panels come from China.
We need real change. Not feel-good straws to grasp at while we continue our fall...
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Walking #BeyondCapitalism, #WendslerNosie Journeys to Federal Court in Phoenix
via #CensoredNews, January 3, 2026
Statement by Wendsler Nosie:
"Good afternoon to all my family, friends, relatives, and people. I come to you in this moment in time, knowing we all have been born into from our parents and those before. We all know those before us, suffered from a great #evil, who tried to destroy them. This evil still exists today.
Every day it works to control us and make its way to have us deceive our own children's lives, by them not being told the truth. We teach them to live and embrace a system of #capitalism that we surely know won't secure the future.
Through every passing generation, it clearly shows it has failed. From the birth of Europe to their unauthorized arrival here and the taking of the East Coast, wrongfully establishing their 13 colonies, they then turned toward the west, breaking all treaties that were dishonest from their inception, establishing a dishonest trust system allowing them to take more and more.
Their human ideology, their way to survive through their economic engine, has been a disaster. It takes and it takes and gives nothing back. No care for any kind of life, no care for the next generation. It's about living for now and being #greedy and destroying communities of people with their power of capitalism.
Since the beginning, through #colonization and capitalism, many here and around the world have suffered. People cried then and still today for a better day and still ask God, what have I done?
The political agenda of capitalism is to put fear in each of us. Pushing each of us towards the illusion that #MotherEarth and ourselves are useless. From fear we lose hope, the journey of spirituality and everything on mother earth, becomes disposable. Our mother earth is the timeline to everything. It gives us the water of life, it gives us the oxygen of life, it gives us the food of life, and it blesses us with life for our children and those yet to come.
It saddens me when this country does not prioritize all the sacred elements that give us life. It saddens me to witness that some no longer care to keep God's greatest gift alive. From a spiritual understanding, our love for one another is critical, our morals to make right decisions is critical and the love for our mother earth should be embedded forever.
We have all been taught not to recognize our mother and forced into a life to be colonized. We were blessed, in the beginning, with the tools of how to survive in the world that provides for us all.
This evil took those tools away and taught us how to be selfish, greedy, impassive and assimilate our minds and hearts to believe in capitalism. For what I have witnessed, I now can say, I see as what my father, my grandfather and great grandfather witnessed before me.
Capitalism demands your loyalty, to destroy every moral ethic, spiritual belief and God's way of life. I too know who cares and protects what God and Jesus had warned the world about. I will not be one who is loyal to capitalism, you will not fool me. If we really think it through, from those who say that capitalism will solve our problems, and when we actually understand it, disaster will occur, i.e. billions of gallons of water can remain forever, no contamination to the environment, no climate changes, one of the oldest religious ceremonies before the beginning of time continues, etc.
The United States of America clearly violated procedures and laws and ignored not only the #NativeAmericans, but also the state of #Arizona and the people of this country. Their decision to give full exemptions from the law has opened the door forever for #corporations to follow suit.
America, our civilization is in trouble and it needs your attention. As you and I today, as did our ancestors had encountered centuries ago, we are also in that moment. We cannot lose our mother earth, if she is lost, there is no life.
The sustainability of the Mother Earth ensures our children’s children will live . So, preserving mother earth today, will guarantee future generations.
I will be departing from #OakFlat on Sunday, January 4th at 11 AM. I will be walking and a little jogging to arrive in downtown Phoenix to attend the court hearings (#AZReform Mining Coalition, ITCA, San Carlos Apache Tribe and Lopez/Kinsey (Burdette) cases vs. U.S., which begin at 10 a.m. on January 7, 2026.
For those who do know me well, I had a spiritual encounter and must travel in this spiritual way. I ask each of you, if possible, to make a ceremonial fire, light a candle, or be in prayer.
The decision of the federal judges will weigh heavy on the future for water, environment, religion, and the ability to give federal exemptions to corporations without following legal policies.
#Usen (Creator), hear my prayers, as I make this journey to encounter many ugly obstacles but also witness the beauty of all life. I will let No Fear distract me, for all the beautiful spirits will be in all four directions."
Wendsler Nosie Sr.
Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/walking-beyond-capitalism-wendsler.html#SaveOakFlat #WaterIsLife #ProtectOakFlat #DefendTheSacred #NativeAmericanActivism #CorporateColonialism #CapitalismMustDie #ApacheStronghold #SanCarlosApache #ResolutionCopper
#Arizona #ChichilBildagoteel
#RioTinto #CopperMining #Fight4OurExistance #SacredLand
#TontoNationalForest #WesternApaches #ProtectTheSacred -
https://www.rewiringamerica.org/research/data-centers-job-growth-homegrown-energy
Now if only the #electric #gas #utilities #companies and the rest of the #fossilfuels #corporations get out of the way to actually do this. The #regulators keep siding w/ the utilities (w/ or w/o bribes).
#jobs #employment #development #electricians #plumbers #contractors #labor #climatechange #energy #efficiency #conservation #solar #batteries
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#ForProfit #Corporations Are Buying Up More #PsychiatricHospitals. Some Flout #FederalLaw With Scarce Repercussions.
https://www.propublica.org/article/psychiatric-hospitals-emtala-mental-health-profit
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How Builder.ai Collapsed Amid Silicon Valley’s Biggest Boom - Builder.ai went from a value of $1.5 billion to zero in a few months, amid questions over... - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/technology/builder-ai-collapse.html #qatarinvestmentauthority #computersandtheinternet #artificialintelligence #mobileapplications #entrepreneurship #sachindevduggal #manpreetratia #corporations #bankruptcies #builder.ai #start-ups
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#handsoff2025 Protest today!!!!! Join up with others to say #HandsOff our democracy and fight for your freedom!!!! Find Your LOCAL PROTEST HERE; https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/
#UnplugTrump #PuckFutin #democracy #freedom #freespeech #life_liberty_happiness #betheblizzard #theavalancheofjustice #capitalism #CapitalismIsADeathCult #CapitalismKills #SurveillanceCapitalism #deforestation #DrillBabyDrill #deforestation #DefundDeforestation #DefundExtinction #progressive #TransRights #FreeSpeechTv #america #americans #americana #defiance #truth #TruthToPower #truth2power #protest #protests #theflagisforthepeople #eagle #pollution #corporations #corporations_are_not_your_friends #NoisePollution #ClimatePollution #thereisnoplanetb #fiftyfiftyone #VoteWithYourWallet #boycott #boycottusa #UnplugTrump #ElonMusk #elonmuskisanazi #gofuck_elonmusk #PutinIsAWarCriminal #PutinWarCriminal #putin #enviroment #enviromental #TheEnviromentExcuse #FreeMedicareForAll #peace #PeaceNow #PeaceTalks #PeaceLink #PrayForUkraine #fascism #NoFascism #fascismo #fascisme #Ukraine #UkraineWar #UkraineRussiaWar #_ukraine #Russia #russian #russiaToday #climate #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #greed #CapitalistGreed #PharmaGreed #FearandGreedIndex #bigpharma #peaceonearth #tariffs #tarrif #Tariff #slavery #minimumwage #minimumwageraiseplz #Aristocrat #RunawayAristocrat #aristocrat #HumanRights #HumanRightsDay #media4humanrights #portugal4humanrights #usa #usa2025 #ușa #northcarolina #northcarolina1stcongressionaldistrict #northcarolina8thdistrict #northcarolina1st #DonaldTrump #UkraineIsOurFriend #trump #trumptariffs #newyork #rejectproject2025 #project2025 #project_2025 #project2025cansuckit #2025project #2025reads #election2025 #revision2025 #eatthe1percent #EatTheRich #EatTheRichs #eatREADsleep #bird #BirdPhotography #BirdWatching #birding #wildlife #nature #NaturePhotography #NatureLovers #NatureArtist #WildlifePhotography #WildlifeWednesday #WildlifeMurals #mouse #reptiles #MarineReptiles #SquamateReptiles #reptile #ReptileWorld #ReptileLovers #ReptileDatabase #boycott #Boycott4Wildlife #boycott4widlife #BoycottGold4Yanomami #boycott4palestine #ChildLabor #freespeech #freespeech4all #freespeech2 #tree #trees #tree_magic #TreeTime #déforestation #DefundDeforestation #amphibians #amphibian #AmphibiansOfInstagram #instagram #_instagram #facebook #FacebookFeed #FacebookFeed #twitter #TwitterMigration #twitter2 #Hippie #beachHippie #beach #BeachTown #BeachTravel #BeachCamping #google #degoogle #GooglePixel #GooglePlay #GoogleGo #yahoo #exclude_applenews_and_yahoo #degoogling #degooglenow #diversity #BioDiversity #DiversityEquityInclusion #DiversityMatters #censorship #Queer #QueerRights #QueerInkSquad #QueerWriters #NeuroDivergent #NeurodivergentWellbeing #NeurodivergentMood #NeurodivergentThinking #autism #AutismSpectrumDisorder #AutismPride #neurospicy #neurotypical #disabled #DisabledArtist #DisabledMastodon #lgbtq #lgbtqia #LGBTQIA2S #lgbtq_plus #lgbtqAlly #StraightAlly #lgbtqia2 #lgbtqia2a #straight #gardener #GardenJoy #forest #ForestTrails #ForestWhitaker #forest_deepness #forest #foresttherapy #therapy #leaf #leafLitter #sexuality #gender #GenderEquality #GenderPayGap #GenderVerbot #dirt #cloudflare #FascistGOP #gop #native #NativeAmerican #NativeAmericans #NativeBirds #insectpopulationdecline #insect #insects #InsectID #bug #bug2038 #black #peopleofcolor #eatlocal #macdonalds #camp #camping #ElderAbuse #elder #old #OldBuildings #conservation #OceanConservation #science #ScienceMastodon #OpenScience #OpenSource #mastodon #mastodonsocial #MastodonTips #lake #LakeErie #LakeCity #river #HudsonRiver #RiverSoul #river_plate #prairie #PrairieLife #pinetree #oldgrowthtree #ocean #OceanBeach #OceanHealth #flowers #WildFlowers #DailyFlowers #sky #SkyTonight #skype #discord #FuckDiscord #DiscordServer #DisneyboundingDiscord #ubuntu #UbuntuLinux #linux #linuxmint #linux_gaming #linuxgaming #GreenwashingKills #GreenWashing #furry #FurryArtist #furryart #furryfandom #totoabafish #VaquitaCPR #vaquita #fish #fishing #FishArt #FishCrow #MarineMammal #NativeMammal #mammal #StopPrimateShipments #primate #animalrights #NaturesRights #transrightsarehumanrights #TransRightsAreHumanRights #transrightsreadathon #transrights #lesbian #LesbianVisibilityWeek #LesbianArt #SydneyGayandLesbianMardiGras #gay #gayMAN #GayPride #GayMastodon #intersex #IntersexRights #IntersexAwareness #TransAndIntersexPrideDublin #asexual #AsexualPride #pride #asexuality #BoycottExxon #verizon
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#CriminalizingDissent: #Greenpeace Ordered to Pay $667M to #DakotaAccessPipeline Firm over #Protests
#DemocracyNow, March 20, 2025
"A jury in #NorthDakota has ordered Greenpeace to pay more than $660 million in damages for defaming #EnergyTransferPartners, the corporation behind the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Texas-based pipeline company accused Greenpeace of orchestrating criminal behavior by training and providing funds to the #Indigenous-led protests at #StandingRock. Greenpeace and its supporters, including other #nonprofits and #advocacy groups, argued that the lawsuit is part of a conspicuous attempt by #corporations to destroy the right to #FreeSpeech. Longtime #HumanRights and #environmental lawyer #StevenDonziger, who was part of the independent trial monitoring team observing the trial, says it was purposely held in a region of the country with deep ties to the #FossilFuel industry. Donziger said most of the jurors in the case were connected to the industry and were 'predisposed' to rule in favor of Energy Transfer despite the 'false narratives' presented at the trial. Greenpeace plans to appeal the ruling."
Watch / listen / read transcript:
https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/20/greenpeace_lawsuit_north_dakota_pipeline
#StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #SLAPPs #ViewerSupportedNews #GreenpeaceUSA #SLAPPsLawsuits #CriminalizingDissent #NorthDakota #StandingRockSiouxTribe #StandingRockReservation #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #WaterIsLife #KelcyWarren #ArrestKelcyWarren #ErikPrince #Blackwater #ACAB -
Okay, hear me out...
With the corporations like Meta, Threads, Amazon, Xitter (the Shirtbird site, i.e. Twitter), etc. crapping all over the LGBTQ+ folks, scrapping their DEI programs, allowing hate on their platforms, I'm forced to come to this conclusion:
Whatever programs they previously had were not based on honest beliefs. They were just going through the motions because they believed that it made money. Thus, they were virtue signaling for the sake of money.
I sure plan to remember this, when the wind shifts again, and they decide that reinstating some of those programs is in their best interest.
#corporations #Meta #Threads #Amazon #Xitter #ShitbirdSite #Twitter #DEI #lgbtq #hate #VirtueSignaling #capitalism #money #dishonest #liars
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Coast #Salish Water Warriors: Voices for the Water at the #SalishSea Assembly in #Seattle
By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews at #Indybay, Nov. 8, 2024
"The defenders are battling the dirty energy #corporations poisoning the land, water and air in western #Canada and #WashingtonState, and the waters of the Salish Sea. The rivers from British Columbia in Canada and Washington State come together in the Salish Sea on their journey to the #PacificOcean.
"The dead birds floating in the Alberta tar sands #TailingPonds, the #ManCamps linked to missing and murdered Indigenous girls, and the increased oil tankers in the Salish Sea -- are all parts of the dirty oil business of the Trans Mountain pipeline pouring out of Alberta's dirty tar sands in Canada, bound for #OilTankers in the Salish Sea.
"The destruction, and theft of land, is a continuation of the #genocidal residential school system. Native children were kidnapped, ripped from their families, and incarcerated in the abusive schools operated by Canada and the churches.
"'We can't drink water from there any more,' said Jean, who lives close to the Alberta tar sands in her homeland. 'I was born into this destruction.
"'Thousands of birds are dead in the tailing ponds.'"
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/11/coast-salish-water-warriors-voices-for.html
#WaterDefenders #LandBack #DefendTheSacred
#BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism
#ReaderSupportedNews #IndigenousActivists #IndigenousActivism #IndigenousNews #Resistance #MotherEarth #PacificNorthwest #WaterIsLife #PetrolState #PetroState #Oiligarchy #ResidentialSchools #StolenChildren #CulturalGenocide #MMIW #MMIWG -
G.M. and Hyundai Plan to Work Together on New Vehicles - General Motors and the South Korean automaker say they will collaborate on new vehicles, ... - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/business/general-motors-hyundai-partnership.html #alternativeandrenewableenergy #electricandhybridvehicles #factoriesandmanufacturing #prices(faresfeesandrates) #hyundaimotorco #teslamotorsinc #generalmotors #corporations #automobiles #supplychain #southkorea #barramaryt #batteries
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G.M. and Hyundai Plan to Work Together on New Vehicles - General Motors and the South Korean automaker say they will collaborate on new vehicles, ... - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/business/general-motors-hyundai-partnership.html #alternativeandrenewableenergy #electricandhybridvehicles #factoriesandmanufacturing #prices(faresfeesandrates) #hyundaimotorco #teslamotorsinc #generalmotors #corporations #automobiles #supplychain #southkorea #barramaryt #batteries
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G.M. and Hyundai Plan to Work Together on New Vehicles - General Motors and the South Korean automaker say they will collaborate on new vehicles, ... - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/business/general-motors-hyundai-partnership.html #alternativeandrenewableenergy #electricandhybridvehicles #factoriesandmanufacturing #prices(faresfeesandrates) #hyundaimotorco #teslamotorsinc #generalmotors #corporations #automobiles #supplychain #southkorea #barramaryt #batteries
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G.M. and Hyundai Plan to Work Together on New Vehicles - General Motors and the South Korean automaker say they will collaborate on new vehicles, ... - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/business/general-motors-hyundai-partnership.html #alternativeandrenewableenergy #electricandhybridvehicles #factoriesandmanufacturing #prices(faresfeesandrates) #hyundaimotorco #teslamotorsinc #generalmotors #corporations #automobiles #supplychain #southkorea #barramaryt #batteries
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G.M. and Hyundai Plan to Work Together on New Vehicles - General Motors and the South Korean automaker say they will collaborate on new vehicles, ... - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/business/general-motors-hyundai-partnership.html #alternativeandrenewableenergy #electricandhybridvehicles #factoriesandmanufacturing #prices(faresfeesandrates) #hyundaimotorco #teslamotorsinc #generalmotors #corporations #automobiles #supplychain #southkorea #barramaryt #batteries
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Latest comic on the looting of Red Lobster by private equity
#economy #business #corporations #PrivateEquity #RedLobster #cartoon #comic
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And in southern #Maine, retirees are making their voices heard!
#ElderActivists join forces to combat #ClimateChange
#ThirdActMaine, made up of retirees, is making itself seen and heard in its effort to get companies to divest in #FossilFuel companies.
Posted December 12, 2023
Mikayla Patel, The Forecaster“'We don’t know how our actions will affect things, but it’s important to be out there and forming community around this issue,' [retiree Bill Rixon] said. 'Being out there on the sidewalk, I’ve found, is really good for my soul.'
"Part of the idea behind the group, he said, is that #retirees are in a better position to put themselves at risk of #arrest.
"'We don’t have to worry about our employment record being sullied by being arrested,' Rixon said, though the group has no intention or expectation of being arrested.
"'The goal is to hopefully urge #corporations to do the right thing,' he said."
Read more:
https://www.pressherald.com/2023/12/12/elder-activists-join-forces-to-combat-climate-change/#EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #BigOilAndGas #Divest
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#Lawsuits Have Become the Weapon of Choice Against #Activists
Legal intimidation suits known as “#SLAPPs” are becoming the norm for private #corporations and #governments trying to silence those who speak out on matters of public interest.
by Katie Redford
July 17, 2023“On May 31, #Atlanta #SWAT teams with riot gear and battering rams broke down #MarlonKautz’s door. Police dragged Kautz and two colleagues to jail in their pajamas, charging them with #MoneyLaundering and charity fraud.
“Kautz, Adele MacLean, and Savannah Patterson, are volunteer board members of the #NetworkForStrongCommunities Inc., which was incorporated in 2020. Through it, they are able to raise funds for the #AtlantaSolidarityFund (#ASF). Since 2016, the fund has bailed out people arrested in #Georgia while exercising their First Amendment right to protest and helped them find legal help.
“Recently, the ASF has supported Atlanta activists who have been protesting a new $90 million police training center known as '#CopCity,' arguing that it will rob Atlanta of a #VitalGreenLung and increase inequality in surrounding neighborhoods. The state of Georgia, on the other hand, has charged dozens with 'domestic terrorism' for participating in largely peaceful protests.
“Georgia authorities claim that the money laundering charge is based on evidence of a fund transfer to another organization, but they haven’t shared any other details about their allegations. Magistrate Judge Altman, who presided over the bail hearing, described the state’s evidence as 'unimpressive,' reinforcing the defendants’ claims that the arrests are politically, not legally, motivated.
“Shortly after the arrest, Governor Brian Kemp announced that the state would go after everyone involved, and Attorney General Chris Carr tweeted that the funders of the bail and legal defense fund were next. As an executive director at a climate philanthropy who made charitable donations to the ASF for legal defense, I had to wonder: Was my door going to be battered down next?
“Some of the accused may have trespassed or destroyed property, but to charge protesters with 'domestic terrorism' and a legal defense fund with money laundering is a cynical political act that bears no relation to the misdemeanors alleged. Any American committed to democracy should be interested in making sure these charges lose in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.
“These charges seek to silence and stop opposition to an unpopular development project. They also telegraph a message to others in the state and nationwide: We will not tolerate lawful protest in Georgia. This strategy is known as strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPP), which is an intimidation lawsuit, typically used by private corporations against those who speak out on matters of public interest. Various state governments are increasingly deploying this tactic, too.
“SLAPPs don’t usually win in court, but that’s not what they’re intended to do. Instead, they set out to threaten activists and drain the financial resources of social movements. They often unfold as years-long wars of attrition, where corporations and governments with disproportionately large resources grind down the financial, emotional, and legal capacities of activists. The threat of such a suit—typically brought against individuals or groups that confront powerful people or institutions—discourages free speech and association, chilling democracy itself.
“As a lawyer on the front lines of climate justice activism, I witnessed firsthand how a SLAPP was used to weaponize the law against free speech and association. During the mass protests by Indigenous water protectors and environmentalists campaigning against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, SLAPPs were used widely.
“As #StandingRock became a global cause célèbre, the pipeline’s owners brought a $900 million #racketeering case against individuals and #NGOs like #BankTrack and #Greenpeace, alleging a vast global conspiracy to damage the company’s reputation and bottom line through fraud and #defamation.
“A federal court ultimately dismissed the lawsuit. But despite its eventual failure in court, the SLAPP tactic served its intended purpose: intimidation. #KrystalTwoBulls, one of the Standing Rock organizers that my organization represented, said that being sued tangled her up, practically and emotionally, in a legal battle that diverted her attention, taking her away from her work on the climate crisis and #Indigenous #LandRights.
“She began to #censor herself; she withdrew from her community and the movement, fearing that conspiracy allegations might extend to anyone she touched. And that, of course, is the point of these suits: to send out the message to either shut up or suffer the consequences.
“The case against #Kautz in #Atlanta similarly seeks to spark fear in activists and donors against supporting #FirstAmendment rights and legal defense. There is reason to believe that prosecutors may also be preparing #RICO charges against anti–Cop City activists, another dangerous use of the legal system to quell #grassroots movements.
“Since Standing Rock, over 20 states have passed '#CriticalInfrastructure' laws, which dramatically increase civil and criminal penalties related to protests at or near #FossilFuel projects. #DomesticTerrorism laws like that in Georgia have a similar intention: to weaponize the legal system against critics and stifle #DissentingVoices.
“I have no doubt that the majority of the domestic terrorism charges around Cop City will fail. But in the process, a political point will have been made, at the expense of the constitutional right to free speech. People protesting to protect the #environment and #climate will have been publicly accused of being harmful to America’s security, and they will have been forced to defend themselves—likely at exorbitant cost—against a 30-year jail sentence. Other potential activists will surely remember these charges when they consider whether it’s worth it to attend a concert, sit-in, or protest.
"The best strategy for stopping SLAPP suits in their tracks, whether they emanate from the private sector or are used by the state, is to keep speaking out, to support defamed activists, and to make the litigants pay a price. About 30 states have introduced legislation that protects against SLAPPs. And last year, #Jami Raskin introduced the #SLAPPProtectionAct of 2022 to #Congress. It must be reintroduced.
“My organization, #EquationCampaign, created a fund to provide lawyers and legal support for people who face this kind of legal retaliation for their environmental and climate work. I’m astonished at the wide range of people who need our help: from #farmers and ranchers to #journalists and #IndigenousActivists. All of them are on the receiving end of David vs. Goliath legal tactics that have long served powerful interests with near-endless resources.
“Absent federal protections, we all must be vigilant in the face of the egregious proliferation of #antiprotest laws and lawsuits.
“#Democracy and the future of this #planet require people to speak up. The law should serve—not silence—those of us who do."
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/slapp-legal-intimidation-activists/
#ForestDefenders #DefendTheForest #StopCopCity #DirectAction #Fascism #RICO #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #Article20 #RightToProtest #SlowMarch #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #NoDAPL #DakotaAccess #StandingWithStandingRock
