The Activist Groups Who Boycott Badthink
Several groups have organised mass boycott harassment campaigns designed to pressure commercial sponsors of targeted media organisations into capitulation.
In response to perceived injustice and refusal to blame the Australian bushfires on climate change, several groups have organised mass boycott harassment campaigns designed to pressure commercial sponsors of targeted media organisations into capitulation.
Opposition to the ‘climate fires’ narrative has been blamed on bots and trolls, Greens MP Adam Bandt even suggested the prospect of ‘climate trials‘ for those who don’t buy into their narrative.
The use of boycotts is just one approach the left are taking to silence and undermine their opponents.
Who is organising this, how and why are they doing it and is there anything that can be done to stop them? Should anything be done to stop them? Should there be changes to the laws or grassroots opposition?
Secondary Boycotts
The tactic is known as a ‘secondary boycott’ or ‘solidarity action’. It is an effort typically associated with labour Unionism and is designed to financially starve a target company by isolating and coercing a third party (in this case a sponsor) to cease doing business with a fourth party (in this case Murdoch-affiliated companies such as Newscorp).
The Suspects
‘Mad Fucking Witches’
Yesterday I reported on how this group had possibly contributed to the mass harassment campaign against the organiser of a Change.org petition entitled ‘De-register the Greens Party’ after it had received over 34,000 signatures.
The Facebook page for ‘Mad Fucking Witches’ had over 74,000. I say had because…
We shall see how long that lasts.
Sleeping Giants Oz
This Twitter-based activist group describe themselves as “A community initiative to make racism, bigotry, misogyny and climate change denial less profitable”.
Sleeping Giants Oz has an app that allows potential boycotters to see an up to date list of companies which patronise Alan Jones, 2GB, Newscorp and most recently Sky News.
GetUp!
This left-wing activist group which claims to be an “independent grass-roots community advocacy organisation” was modeled on similar groups such as US based ‘MoveOn.org’.
There are those who see this as a manipulation of democracy for nefarious purposes under the guise of ‘grass-roots’ organizing funded by billionaire George Soros.
Hungary has led the way in outlawing these faux-democratic practices by passing a “Stop Soros” bill. Should Australia should follow suit?
What can be done?
Under international law, the right to strike is recognized as a human right. A boycott is a form of strike protest action.
The ability to take your business elsewhere is a critical aspect of what keeps markets competitive and insulates them against crony capitalism and the formation of monopolies.
I don’t have the answers, but I would like to facilitate the discussion. What do you think should be done? Campaigns of solidarity to bombard targeted companies with messages of support? Leave a comment with your suggestions.
If you liked this article, you may also enjoy my story on the ABC memory-holing news that doesn’t fit their agenda here.
This link provides a complete list of the ways and organisations you can donate to assist with bushfire relief.
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