DoomsdaysCW<p>From 2020: How <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Target" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Target</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Google" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Google</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BankOfAmerica" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BankOfAmerica</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Microsoft" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Microsoft</span></a> quietly fund police through private donations</p><p>More than 25 large <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corporations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corporations</span></a> in the past three years have contributed funding to private <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PoliceFoundations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PoliceFoundations</span></a>, new report says</p><p>by Kari Paul<br>Thu 18 Jun 2020</p><p>"The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HoustonPolice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HoustonPolice</span></a> foundation has purchased for the local police department a variety of equipment, including <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SWAT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SWAT</span></a> equipment, sound equipment and dogs for the K-9 unit, according to the report. The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PhiladelphiaPolice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PhiladelphiaPolice</span></a> foundation purchased for its police force <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LongGuns" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LongGuns</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/drones" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>drones</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BallisticHelmets" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BallisticHelmets</span></a>, and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AtlantaPolice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AtlantaPolice</span></a> foundation helped fund a major <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/surveillance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>surveillance</span></a> network of over 12,000 cameras.</p><p>"In addition to weaponry, foundation funding can also go toward specialized training and support programs that complement the department’s policing strategies, according to one police foundation.</p><p>“'Not a lot of people are aware of this public-private partnership where corporations and wealthy donors are able to siphon money into police forces with little to no oversight,' said Gin Armstrong, a senior research analyst at <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LittleSis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LittleSis</span></a>.</p><p>"A variety of companies – including financial institutions, technology companies, retailers, local universities and sports teams, provide funding to police foundations. Donations may be, in part, to curry favor with a force that exists primarily to protect property and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/capital" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>capital</span></a>, the report said."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/18/police-foundations-nonprofits-amazon-target-microsoft" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/us-news/2020/j</span><span class="invisible">un/18/police-foundations-nonprofits-amazon-target-microsoft</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CivilRights</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ACAB" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ACAB</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StopCopCity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StopCopCity</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StopCopCitiesEverywhere" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StopCopCitiesEverywhere</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilLiberties" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CivilLiberties</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a></p>
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DoomsdaysCW<p>Private Donors Supply Spy Gear to Cops</p><p>There's little public scrutiny when private donors pay to give police controversial technology and weapons. Sometimes, companies are donors to the same foundations that purchase their products for police.</p><p>by Ali Winston and Darwin Bond Graham, special to ProPublica Oct. 13, 2014</p><p>"In 2007, as it pushed to build a state-of-the-art <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/surveillance" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>surveillance</span></a> facility, the Los Angeles Police Department cast an acquisitive eye on software being developed by <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Palantir" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Palantir</span></a>, a startup funded in part by the Central Intelligence Agency's [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CIA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CIA</span></a>] <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/VentureCapital" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>VentureCapital</span></a> arm.</p><p>"Originally designed for spy agencies, Palantir's technology allowed users to track individuals with unprecedented reach, connecting information from conventional sources like crime reports with more controversial data gathered by surveillance cameras and license plate readers that automatically, and indiscriminately, photographed passing cars.</p><p>"The LAPD could have used a small portion of its multibillion-dollar annual budget to purchase the software, but that would have meant going through a year-long process requiring public meetings, approval from the City Council, and, in some cases, competitive bidding.</p><p>"There was a quicker, quieter way to get the software: as a gift from the Los Angeles Police Foundation, a private charity. In November 2007, at the behest of then Police Chief William Bratton, the foundation approached <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TargetCorporation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TargetCorporation</span></a>, which contributed $200,000 to buy the software, said the foundation's executive director, Cecilia Glassman, in an interview. Then the foundation donated it to the police department.</p><p>"Across the nation, private foundations are increasingly being tapped to provide police with technology and weaponry that -- were it purchased with public money -- would come under far closer scrutiny.</p><p>"In Los Angeles, foundation money has been used to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of license plate readers, which were the subject of a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CivilRights</span></a> lawsuit filed against the region's law enforcement agencies by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ElectronicFrontierFoundation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ElectronicFrontierFoundation</span></a>. (A judge rejected the groups' claims earlier this year.)</p><p>"Private funds also have been used to upgrade 'Stingray' devices, which have triggered debate in numerous jurisdictions because they vacuum up records of cellphone metadata, calls, text messages and data transfers over a half-mile radius.</p><p>"New York and Los Angeles have the nation's oldest and most generous police foundations, each providing their city police departments with grants totaling about $3 million a year. But similar groups have sprouted up in dozens of jurisdictions, from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AtlantaGeorgia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AtlantaGeorgia</span></a>, to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OaklandCalifornia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OaklandCalifornia</span></a>. In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Atlanta" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Atlanta</span></a>, the police foundation has bankrolled the surveillance cameras that now blanket the city, as well as the center where police officers monitor live video feeds.</p><p>"Proponents of these private fundraising efforts say they have become indispensable in an era of tightening budgets, helping police to acquire the ever-more sophisticated tools needed to combat modern crime.</p><p>"'There's very little discretionary money for the department,' said Steve Soboroff, a businessman who is president of the Los Angeles Police Commission, the civilian board that oversees the LAPD's policies and operations. 'A grant application to the foundation cuts all the red tape, or almost all of the red tape.'</p><p>"But critics say police foundations operate with little transparency or oversight and can be a way for wealthy donors and corporations to influence law enforcement agencies' priorities.</p><p>"It's not uncommon for the same companies to be donors to the same police foundations that purchase their products for local police departments. Or for those <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/companies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>companies</span></a> also to be <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/contractors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>contractors</span></a> for the same police agencies to which their products are being donated.</p><p>"'No one really knows what's going on,' said Dick Dadey of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CitizensUnion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CitizensUnion</span></a>, a good government group in New York. 'The public needs to know that these contributions are being made voluntarily and have no bearing on contracting decisions.'</p><p>"Palantir, the recipient of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LosAngelesPolice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LosAngelesPolice</span></a> Foundation's largesse in 2008, donated $10,000 to become a three-star sponsor of the group's annual 'Above and Beyond' awards ceremony in 2013 and has made similar-sized gifts to the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/NewYorkPolice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NewYorkPolice</span></a> foundation. The privately held Palo Alto firm, which had estimated revenues of $250 million in 2011 and is preparing to go public, also has won millions of dollars of contracts from the Los Angeles and New York police departments over the last three years.</p><p>"Palantir officials did not respond to questions about its relationships with police departments and the foundations linked to them. The New York City Police Foundation did not answer questions about Palantir's donations, or its technology gifts to the NYPD.</p><p>"Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilLibertiesUnion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CivilLibertiesUnion</span></a>, said she saw danger in the growing web of ties between police departments, foundations and private donors.</p><p>"'We run the risk of policy that is in the service of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/moneyed" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>moneyed</span></a> interests,' she said."</p><p><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/private-donors-supply-spy-gear-to-cops" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">propublica.org/article/private</span><span class="invisible">-donors-supply-spy-gear-to-cops</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ACAB" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ACAB</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StopCopCity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StopCopCity</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StopCopCitiesEverywhere" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StopCopCitiesEverywhere</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilLiberties" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CivilLiberties</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p>More than 300 <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRights</span></a> activists were killed in 2019, report reveals</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Colombia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Colombia</span></a> was the bloodiest nation with 103 murders and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Philippines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Philippines</span></a> was second, followed by <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Brazil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brazil</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Honduras" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Honduras</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mexico" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mexico</span></a></p><p>by Nina Lakhani, 14 Jan, 2020</p><p>"More than 300 human rights defenders working to protect the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>environment</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeSpeech</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LGBTQ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LGBTQ</span></a>+ rights and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousLand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousLand</span></a> in 31 countries were killed in 2019, a new report reveals. </p><p>"Two-thirds of the total killings took place in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LatinAmerica" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LatinAmerica</span></a> where impunity from prosecution is the norm.</p><p>"Colombia, where targeted violence against community leaders opposing environmentally destructive <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/megaprojects" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>megaprojects</span></a> has spiraled since the 2016 peace accords, was the bloodiest nation with 106 murders in 2019. The Philippines was the second deadliest country with 43 killings, followed by Honduras, Brazil and Mexico.</p><p>"2019 was characterized by waves of social uprisings demanding political and economic changes across the globe from Iraq and Lebanon in the Middle East to Hong Kong and India in Asia and Chile in the Americas.</p><p>"The report by <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FrontLineDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FrontLineDefenders</span></a> (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FLD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FLD</span></a>) details the physical assaults, defamation campaigns, digital security threats, judicial harassment, and gender-based attacks faced by human rights defenders across the world, who were on the frontline of protests against deep seated <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/inequalities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>inequalities</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corruption" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corruption</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/authoritarianism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>authoritarianism</span></a>. </p><p>"In the cases for which the data is available, the report found:<br> • 85% of those killed last year had previously been threatened either individually or as part of the community or group in which they worked.
<br> • 13% of those reported killed were women.
<br> • 40% of those killed worked on land, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousPeoples" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousPeoples</span></a> and environmental issues.
</p><p>"In nearly all countries that experienced mass protests last year, human rights defenders – who mobilized <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/marches" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>marches</span></a>, documented police and military abuses, and helped citizens who were injured or arrested – were specifically targeted. </p><p>"For instance, in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Chile" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Chile</span></a>, in the biggest anti-government protests since the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, at least 23 people were killed and 2,300 injured, with scores blinded by non-lethal projectiles. </p><p>"In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Iraq" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Iraq</span></a>, where <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Anticorruption" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Anticorruption</span></a> protests during October and November left more than 300 people dead, Saba Al Mahdawi was abducted and held for nearly two weeks by unidentified militants. She was most likely targeted as a result of her work providing food, water and medical aid to injured protesters.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Honduras" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Honduras</span></a>, a key geopolitical US ally, has been one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a woman, lawyer, journalist and land or environmental defender since the 2009 military-backed coup unleashed a wave of unchecked violence. Last year, targeted killings in the Central American country increased fourfold compared to 2018, as tens of thousands of people fled a toxic mix of violence, poverty and corruption, and journeyed overland through Mexico to the US southern border in search of security.<br>Yet despite difficult and frightening circumstances, human rights activists have continued to spearhead positive social changes. </p><p>"For instance, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mexican" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mexican</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/reproductiverights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>reproductiverights</span></a> defenders celebrated the legalisation of abortion in the state of Oaxaca – following in the footsteps of Mexico City 12 years earlier. While in Jordan, lawmakers withdrew the cybercrime bill, which proposed restrictions to the freedom of speech and the right to privacy, after a high-profile campaign by civil society groups. </p><p>"Andrew Anderson, executive director of FLD, said: 'In 2019, we saw human rights defenders on the frontlines defending and advancing rights in Hong Kong, Chile, Iraq, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Spain and many other cities and towns around the world. And despite repression, they continue to advance visions of their societies and the world that put to shame not only their own governments and leaders, but also the international community.'"</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/jan/14/300-human-rights-activists-killed-2019-report" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">theguardian.com/law/2020/jan/1</span><span class="invisible">4/300-human-rights-activists-killed-2019-report</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p>The right to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/protest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>protest</span></a> is under threat in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Britain" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Britain</span></a>, undermining a pillar of democracy</p><p>By JILL LAWLESS<br>December 26, 2023</p><p>LONDON (AP) — "For holding a sign outside a courthouse reminding jurors of their right to acquit defendants, a retiree faces up to two years in prison. For hanging a banner reading '<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/JustStopOil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>JustStopOil</span></a>' off a bridge, an engineer got a three-year prison sentence. Just for walking slowly down the street, scores of people have been arrested.</p><p>"They are among hundreds of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environmental" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>environmental</span></a> activists arrested for peaceful demonstrations in the U.K., where tough new laws restrict the right to protest.</p><p>"The Conservative government says the laws prevent extremist activists from hurting the economy and disrupting daily life. Critics say <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CivilRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CivilRights</span></a> are being eroded without enough scrutiny from lawmakers or protection by the courts. They say the sweeping arrests of peaceful <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/demonstrators" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>demonstrators</span></a>, along with government officials labeling <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/extremists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>extremists</span></a>, mark a worrying departure for a liberal democracy.</p><p>"'Legitimate protest is part of what makes any country a safe and civilized place to live',' said Jonathon Porritt, an <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ecologist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ecologist</span></a> and former director of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FriendsOfTheEarth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FriendsOfTheEarth</span></a>, who joined a vigil outside London’s Central Criminal Court to protest the treatment of demonstrators.</p><p>"'The government has made its intent very clear, which is basically to suppress what is legitimate, lawful protest and to use every conceivable mechanism at their disposal to do that.'"</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://apnews.com/article/britain-democracy-protest-arrests-unwritten-constitution-616078b918e27d5098890be6f9967b14" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">apnews.com/article/britain-dem</span><span class="invisible">ocracy-protest-arrests-unwritten-constitution-616078b918e27d5098890be6f9967b14</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SlowMarch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SlowMarch</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AbolishTheMonarchy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AbolishTheMonarchy</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/2023PublicOrderAct" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>2023PublicOrderAct</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p>Wired: How to Protest Safely: What to Bring, What to Do, and What to Avoid</p><p>If you’re planning on hitting the streets, here’s what you need to know.</p><p>by Louryn Stramp and Lauren Good<br>June, 2022</p><p>"Reproductive rights in America have drastically changed. The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, which opens the doors to states criminalizing abortion and blocking access to information about it. Certain legal experts note that the language used in the current draft from Justice Samuel Alito could further erode protections surrounding birth control, gay marriage, and interracial marriage, which implies additional civil rights are under threat.</p><p>"This guide to safe protesting was originally written in 2020 during the nationwide outcry over police brutality, which overwhelmingly targets Black people like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade. Whether you’re marching for racial justice, reproductive rights, or climate conservation, our advice applies to most protests.</p><p>"If you're thinking about joining a protest near you, there are some crucial factors to consider: Police brutality is an abstract concept for some but a stark reality for others. Similarly, few people think about abortion access until they need it. There are ways you can contribute to police brutality causes or to abortion funds and independent clinics if you don't feel safe protesting or are otherwise unable to physically do so. You can also donate time to community groups, drop off supplies for protests, or contact local legislators.</p><p>How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance</p><p>"That being said, protesting is a right of all Americans under the First Amendment (more on that below). Before you head out, you should know that police across the country have acted with unnecessary force, including driving vehicles through crowds, partially blinding a photojournalist, and macing children. The list goes on and on.</p><p>"If you still want to join in, we've gathered some advice, as well as a list of items you may want to bring with you. Be careful, and stay safe.</p><p>Table of Contents</p><p>- What to Bring (and Not Bring) to a Protest<br>- Before You Leave<br>- Know Your Rights<br>- While You're at the Protest<br>- What to Avoid<br>- What to Do If …<br>- After the Protest</p><p>Read more [paywall]:<br><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protest-safely-gear-tips/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">wired.com/story/how-to-protest</span><span class="invisible">-safely-gear-tips/</span></a></p><p>Internet Archive:<br><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230112051520/https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protest-safely-gear-tips/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">web.archive.org/web/2023011205</span><span class="invisible">1520/https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-protest-safely-gear-tips/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SlowMarch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SlowMarch</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Toolkit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Toolkit</span></a>: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Protest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Protest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/safety" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>safety</span></a> tips from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Greenpeace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Greenpeace</span></a></p><p>"Protest is a powerful strategy to demand <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/justice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>justice</span></a>. Greenpeace has been holding and supporting protests around the world for nearly 50 years. Because of this, we’ve received requests and messages asking for advice on protest tactics, digital, and physical security against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/militarized" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>militarized</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/police" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>police</span></a> forces. While we have compiled this from a US point of view where this Greenpeace team is based, we hope some of what is here is helpful beyond the US. </p><p>"We are continuously learning, learning from mistakes, learning from each other. The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/activists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>activists</span></a> that make up our Greenpeace community, also come from many protest practices and methods, including <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Indigenous" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Indigenous</span></a>-led resistance to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FossilFuel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FossilFuel</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/extraction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>extraction</span></a>, the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ImmigrantRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ImmigrantRights</span></a> movement, the Movement for Black Lives, [<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BLM" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BLM</span></a>] and others. We wanted to share some of our learnings so that you can join us in protests that demand systemic changes from fighting for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> to dismantling <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WhiteSupremacy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WhiteSupremacy</span></a>. We support you and are fighting with you. </p><p>"We want to acknowledge that there are many different types of protest tactics, and that this is not an exhaustive list. We also want to acknowledge that communities of color, especially Black communities and other non-Black Indigenous and communities of color, are policed differently than white communities. </p><p>"When we protest we have an opportunity to demand the world we need and to understand how the issues we face are interconnected. As we fight for environmental justice, we show up for racial justice, Indigenous rights, immigrant rights, disability rights and more. While this guide focuses on protests, even if you are not able to join us in the street you can support those who are protesting by providing supplies, donating to bail funds, providing rides, having important conversations with your coworkers, friends, families, and neighbors.</p><p>"Also, we want to remind you that we are not your lawyers. This is not legal advice, any tips contained here are only to assist you in thinking through how to engage in protest activity. We urge you to connect with your local organizing and legal community for additional support."</p><p><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/toolkits/protest-safety-tips-from-greenpeace/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">greenpeace.org/usa/toolkits/pr</span><span class="invisible">otest-safety-tips-from-greenpeace/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ACAB" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ACAB</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SlowMarch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SlowMarch</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p>Protecting <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Activists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Activists</span></a> from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AbusiveLitigation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AbusiveLitigation</span></a><br> <br><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a> in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GlobalSouth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GlobalSouth</span></a> and How to Respond</p><p>PUBLISHED: JULY 2020</p><p>"In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Thailand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Thailand</span></a>, an agricultural company files more than a dozen suits against at least 20 <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/defendants" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>defendants</span></a>, targeting <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/workers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>workers</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/journalists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>journalists</span></a>, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/activists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>activists</span></a> who had spoken out against alleged <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LaborAbuses" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LaborAbuses</span></a> at the company’s chicken farm. In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/India" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>India</span></a>, an association of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/pesticide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pesticide</span></a> manufacturers brings a civil defamation suit against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/journalists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>journalists</span></a> that had reported on the harmful <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/health" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>health</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environmental" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>environmental</span></a> effects of pesticide use. In the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Philippines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Philippines</span></a>, a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mining</span></a> company files suit against 85 defendants who had conducted a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PeacefulProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PeacefulProtest</span></a> near the company’s mining site, after the company’s own security forces used <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/lethal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>lethal</span></a> violence against the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/protesters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>protesters</span></a>. In <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SouthAfrica" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SouthAfrica</span></a>, an <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Australian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Australian</span></a> mining company files suit against environmental activists who had criticized a company mine during a lecture at a local university.</p><p>What do these suits have in common? They are all “<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a>,” or “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation”: suits filed not to secure relief, but to use the risks and costs of litigation to defuse criticism and opposition and discourage the exercise of fundamental freedoms. SLAPPs have long been prevalent in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Globa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Globa</span></a> North, but SLAPPs are also being used in the Global South to silence activism.</p><p>"In Protecting Activists from Abusive Litigation: SLAPPs in the Global South and How to Respond, ICNL presents the first cross-regional survey of SLAPPs in the Global South, along with the first rigorous comparative analysis of anti-SLAPP policy responses undertaken in the Global North and the Global South. Our survey shows that SLAPPs pose a serious threat to the exercise of fundamental freedoms in the Global South, particularly for activists, civil society organizations, journalists, and community members who dare to criticize powerful entities.</p><p>"Our survey, which is far from comprehensive, has identified 82 reported SLAPPs filed in Thailand, India, the Philippines, and South Africa – the most fertile fields for Southern SLAPPs – as well as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Indonesia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Indonesia</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Malaysia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Malaysia</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Armenia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Armenia</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SierraLeone" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SierraLeone</span></a>, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Honduras" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Honduras</span></a>. Key features of SLAPPs in our sample include:</p><p>- Half of the cases in our sample (41 cases) involved criminal proceedings.<br>- The most frequent SLAPP targets in our sample were activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) (38 cases, or 46%); journalists and publishers (17 cases, or 21%); and leaders and members of local communities (15 cases, or 18%).<br>- Nearly all of the cases in our sample – 75 cases, or 91% – were brought by private companies or company officials, with 34 of these cases (41%) brought by mining companies and 28 cases (34%) brought by companies associated with agricultural operations.</p><p>"Where the cause of action or charge was reported, the suit was based at least in part on a defamation charge, either civil or criminal, in 66 of 75 cases (88%).</p><p>"Of the 33 suits in our sample brought as civil actions, claims in 17 cases (52%) exceeded 1 million USD, with the average claim exceeding 10 million USD."</p><p>Full article:</p><p><a href="https://www.icnl.org/post/report/slapps-in-the-global-south-report" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">icnl.org/post/report/slapps-in</span><span class="invisible">-the-global-south-report</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRights</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Whistleblowing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Whistleblowing</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SlowMarch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SlowMarch</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a> In Europe: How The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EU" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EU</span></a> Can Protect Watchdogs From <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AbusiveLawsuits" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AbusiveLawsuits</span></a></p><p>In their new policy paper, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Liberties" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Liberties</span></a> and other rights and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/pressfreedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pressfreedom</span></a> groups explain why abusive lawsuits (SLAPPs) against watchdogs and journalists threaten <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/democracies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>democracies</span></a> in Europe and what governments and the EU should do tackle it.</p><p>by Linda Ravo<br>January 13, 2022 </p><p>"The European Commission is set to shortly unveil its proposal for EU-wide measures against SLAPPs. In a new policy paper published today, Liberties and other rights and press freedom groups which form the Coalition Against SLAPPs in Europe (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CASE" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CASE</span></a>), explain what SLAPPs are, how big of a threat they are to watchdogs in Europe, and propose what governments and the EU should do tackle the problem.</p><p>Censorship by litigation</p><p>"Citizens are supposed to be in charge of their democracies. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Watchdogs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Watchdogs</span></a> like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/journalists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>journalists</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/rights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>rights</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/defenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>defenders</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/activist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>activist</span></a> groups are key to enable citizens to get informed, shape their opinions, and keep an eye on people in power to make sure they do what is best for all of us.</p><p>"As we explain here, SLAPPs (an acronym which stands for 'strategic lawsuit against public participation'), are a form of abuse of law and justice that <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corrupt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corrupt</span></a> politicians and powerful <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/businesses" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>businesses</span></a> across Europe increasingly make use of to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/harass" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>harass</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/bankrupt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>bankrupt</span></a> and intimidate <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/journalists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>journalists</span></a>, activists and other watchdogs into silence. Helped by expensive and unscrupulous law firms, they sue them on grounds of meritless and abusive claims with the purpose of shutting down acts of public participation, including public interest journalism, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PeacefulProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PeacefulProtest</span></a> or <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/boycotts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>boycotts</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/advocacy" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>advocacy</span></a>, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/whistleblowing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>whistleblowing</span></a>, or simply speaking out against abuse of power."</p><p><a href="https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/slapp-case-submission/43948" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">liberties.eu/en/stories/slapp-</span><span class="invisible">case-submission/43948</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SlowMarch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SlowMarch</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p>How <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corporate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corporate</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPP</span></a> lawsuits endanger our rights and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/planet" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>planet</span></a> </p><p>by Chris Greenberg<br>25 April 2023 </p><p>"Hope creates the conditions for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateAction</span></a>. And climate action nurtures hope. Just as hope and action have a reinforcing relationship, so do fear and silence. </p><p>"The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/polluting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>polluting</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corporations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corporations</span></a> who put <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/profits" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>profits</span></a> over people and the planet know this and they use their resources to intimidate, to instill fear, and ultimately to silence the people directly impacted by their short-sighted, extractive greed. </p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a>, a type of abusive lawsuit, are a key tool used by corporate power to suppress <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FreeSpeech</span></a> and people power. These cynical lawsuits can force non-profit organizations like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Greenpeace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Greenpeace</span></a> International to divert precious resources away from campaigning for a more just and sustainable society. Perhaps even worse, SLAPPs can intimidate targets from challenging powerful corporations in the future.</p><p>"Every SLAPP, regardless of the defendant, is an attack on everyone who believes in the power of free speech and the right to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PeacefulProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PeacefulProtest</span></a>. No one should be bullied for speaking up on behalf of people and the planet. </p><p>"But CorporateBullies beware!</p><p>"In a massive win for free speech, a US federal court recently dismissed a seven-year lawsuit brought by <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ResoluteForestryProducts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ResoluteForestryProducts</span></a> against a number of Greenpeace staff members and entities, including <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GreenpeaceInternational" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GreenpeaceInternational</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GreenpeaceUSA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>GreenpeaceUSA</span></a>. The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Canadian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Canadian</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/logging" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>logging</span></a> company sued the Greenpeace defendants for CA $100 million in an attempt to silence and bankrupt them, after criticism of its <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/unsustainable" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>unsustainable</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/forestry" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>forestry</span></a> practices.</p><p>"Let’s take a closer look at SLAPPs so you can recognize them when you see them: </p><p>"What does <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPP</span></a> stand for? SLAPP stands for '<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StrategicLawsuitAgainstPublicParticipation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StrategicLawsuitAgainstPublicParticipation</span></a> '. These lawsuits are used by <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/corporations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>corporations</span></a> attempting to diminish or even stop public participation in civil society. SLAPPs often lack any kind of merit, and don’t need to result in a legal victory to achieve the outcome desired by corporate bullies. </p><p>"SLAPPs waste time and cause financial and sometimes <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PsychologicalHarm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PsychologicalHarm</span></a> to targeted individuals and organisations who have to hire <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/lawyers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>lawyers</span></a> and engage in costly <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LegalBattles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LegalBattles</span></a>, sometimes to the point of facing bankruptcy. These lawsuits attempt to silence free speech and limit peaceful <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/dissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>dissent</span></a> by using litigation as a tool for deterring non-violent protest and even documenting and bearing witness."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/59478/slapp-lawsuits-corporate-bullies-vs-free-speech/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">greenpeace.org/international/s</span><span class="invisible">tory/59478/slapp-lawsuits-corporate-bullies-vs-free-speech/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SlowMarch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SlowMarch</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a></p>
DoomsdaysCW<p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Greenpeace" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Greenpeace</span></a> Stands Up Against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPPs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPPs</span></a> And Wins </p><p>By Joe Mullin<br>April 26, 2023</p><p>"The U.S. litigation system is meant to resolve serious disputes. Unfortunately, the high cost of litigation can be weaponized as a means of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/harassment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>harassment</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>censorship</span></a>. That’s become all too common, and the last few decades have seen the rise of what’s known as a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StrategicLawsuitAgainstPublicParticipation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>StrategicLawsuitAgainstPublicParticipation</span></a>, or <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SLAPP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SLAPP</span></a>. </p><p>"At <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EFF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EFF</span></a>, as more speech of all types has moved online, we’ve seen SLAPPs proliferate over <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalSpeech</span></a>. SLAPPs get filed against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/protesters" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>protesters</span></a> who oppose <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OilPipelines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OilPipelines</span></a>, and regular people doing everyday things like sending <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/emails" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>emails</span></a> to local officials, or even posting an online review. </p><p>"Five years ago, together with Greenpeace and other environmental nonprofits, EFF helped create the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ProtectTheProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ProtectTheProtest</span></a> coalition, or <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PTP" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PTP</span></a>. It’s a group of nonprofits that supports its members and others in their fights against SLAPP lawsuits.</p><p>"One of the lawsuits that spurred the formation of PTP was <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ResoluteForestryProducts" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ResoluteForestryProducts</span></a> v. Greenpeace. In this case, a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/logging" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>logging</span></a> company claimed that Greenpeace’s advocacy for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CanadianForests" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CanadianForests</span></a> amounted to a 'global <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/fraud" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>fraud</span></a>' that should be punished under civil <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RICO" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RICO</span></a> laws—U.S. federal laws that were originally intended to go after organized crime. </p><p>"Following a summary judgment hearing last week, the Resolute v. Greenpeace case has finally been put to rest, with a complete victory for Greenpeace. This baseless lawsuit, which lasted seven years, should never have been brought in the first place. We hope Greenpeace’s victory against <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Resolute" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Resolute</span></a> sends a strong message to corporate SLAPP plaintiffs—you won’t win, and your targets won’t stay silent."</p><p>Read more:<br><a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/greenpeace-stands-against-slapps-and-wins" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/gree</span><span class="invisible">npeace-stands-against-slapps-and-wins</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DigitalFreeSpeech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DigitalFreeSpeech</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DirectAction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DirectAction</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CriminalizingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CriminalizingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterProtectors" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterProtectors</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ForestDefenders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ForestDefenders</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ClimateJustice" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ClimateJustice</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SilencingDissent" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SilencingDissent</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EcoActivists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EcoActivists</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Censorship" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Censorship</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Article20" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Article20</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RightToProtest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RightToProtest</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SlowMarch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SlowMarch</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BigOilAndGas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>BigOilAndGas</span></a></p>
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