Mobilisation Lab Collective

Meta to suspend political advertising as EU transparency law looms The social media giant follows Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which made a similar decision in November.

Starting October 2025, Meta is banning political advertising in the EU, which will also include social issues. As campaigners, we should already be strategizing to build #organic #peoplepowered digital strategy, even more essential in years to come. www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025...

🌬️ Citizen-led renewable energy as a key measure against energy poverty during heatwaves💡🌡️

The community wind energy project by our member @ecopowercv.bsky.social and the Belgian city of Eeklo proudly stands out as an exemplary model of local action!
↓↓↓

The Guardian article: Temperature records broken as extreme heat grips parts of Europe

🚨Record heat is hitting again

To protect yourself:
⛲Stay hydrated
🏖️ Avoid direct sun

And to protect everyone’s future:
⛔PHASE OUT FOSSIL FUELS, the driver of the climate crisis!

Top 10 Summer Reads for Campaigners < Sheila McKechnie Foundation In this blog, SMK Programme Support and Communications Officer Greta Mauch shares her top 10 book recommendations for campaigners.

For your summer reading, here's a great list of books for campaigners by Sheila McKechnie Foundation.

'Emotions and Social Movements' and 'How to Win Campaigns' are two classics. What are some of the best books you've read on campaigning/organizing this summer or year?
smk.org.uk/top-10-summe...

Festivals under fire: DJ boycotts and outrage after KKR takeover The recent acquisition of Superstruct Entertainment by the American private equity company KKR is causing considerable unrest within the European festival world.

Cultural strategies and communication are important in the mass success of people-powered campaigns: one of the latest ones is the artist-driven boycott of music festivals and brands owned by KKR, an investment firm with ties to military and Israeli companies. www.eventplanner.net/news/11002_f...

A big thank you to the organisations and movements that inspired this issue: @ulex-project.bsky.social, @healingjusticeldn.bsky.social, @frontlinedefenders.bsky.social, @partnersglobal.bsky.social, and many more not yet on BlueSky.

Image: Close-up of the mural "Be tender with yourself - listen to your rage", created by Fearless Collective on the streets of Garibalda, Tunis. Fearless Collective works at the frontline during crucial moments of resistance to make space for collective imagination, creative thinking, social discourse and beauty.Text overlay reads: MobLab Dispatch July 25 - putting wellbeing at the heart of movement building

How do we stay human in the face of war, genocide, ecological collapse, and authoritarianism?

This month's Dispatch explores how we put wellbeing in the heart of movement building work - sharing resources and ideas to help you prioritise wellbeing!

Read here: zc.vg/UGwdE?m=0

Picture of activists in Argentina calling for better trans rights in a protest. MobLab logo in corner. Text reads: Trans Resistance in an oppressive world Celebrating and learning from trans community resistance to anti-trans narratives

MobLab Dispatch for June is about celebrating trans activists resisting the rise of anti-trans narratives around the world.

You’ll find:
- tools to understand the modern anti-trans movement to help fight back
- examples of trans activism
- recommendations for campaigners

Read: zc.vg/7gboy?m=0

Why didn’t we Stop the War? An Evaluation of the Campaign against the Iraq War The Commons is an online library for the change makers of the world and for those interested in social change, activism, organising, advocacy and justice.

Some key lessons from the 2003 anti-war movement in Australia:
➡️ polite opposition did not change things
➡️ tactics chosen based on what was comfortable not on impact
➡️ civility culture kept them away from disruptive actions

Polite protests don't change the world

commonslibrary.org/why-didnt-we...

There's a lot to be said about identity, solidarity. But a simple place to start: the people who are willing to fight for their neighbors when their neighbors have different problems have a very, very good chance of having neighbors to fight with when you all share problems

all this to say, know your target and aim at where it hurts them most for actual meaningful change

2/2

most people seem to think the current geopolitical madness is temporary and things will eventually swing back. hate to tell say it but so long as tech oligarchs control large platforms, media & the knowledge ecosystem, this will likely remain the new normal

1/

Budapest Pride – Cancelled by the State; Reclaimed by the People The Hungarian government banned this year’s Pride parade in Budapest. Yet people still came out in such numbers that the event turned from one of support for the LGBTQ+ community to a direct challenge...

“It felt like a revolution. Or maybe a rerun of 1989 – but queerer.”

No corporate floats or sponsors, just people marching side by side. Budapest Pride saw 200,000 people turn out in defiance to a government ban of the event.

balkaninsight.com/2025/06/30/b...

Zohran Mamdani offered New Yorkers a political revolution – and won | Bhaskar Sunkara Now the New York mayoral candidate he needs to ensure an electoral win that translates into tangible improvements in people’s lives

"In the face of a skeptical public, Mamdani was even able to communicate democratic socialism as a universal politics rather than a niche identity or a dangerous ideology."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Pro-Palestine activists declare victory after shipping giant Maersk divests from Israeli settlements : Peoples Dispatch Maersk’s decision follows over a year of pressure by the “Mask off Maersk” campaign, led by the Palestinian Youth Movement

The Palestinian Youth Movement’s #MaskOffMaersk campaign just landed a major win! Global shipping giant A.P. Moller - Maersk has divested from illegal Israeli settlements. This campaign used clear targets and mobilized a strong base to achieve its mission: peoplesdispatch.org/2025/06/23/p...

Funder-inflicted trauma and how it affects nonprofit leaders and our sector Hi everyone. Before we get started on today’s topic, happy Pride! To all my colleagues who are lesbian, gay, (fellow)...

The funding crisis is hitting our sector hard, but how do the expectations from funders impact campaigners?

Funder-inflicted trauma keeps us thinking small, breeds individualism, and asks us to accept unjust systems in name of being "practical".

Must read blog 👇

nonprofitaf.com/2025/06/fund...

The Guerrilla Marketing Campaign Against Elon Musk As Tesla’s profits drop, a group called Everyone Hates Elon is going viral for plastering London with fake advertisements for the company, infiltrating a car showroom, and inviting the public to trash...

Everyone Hates Elon Musk have been able to do things that mainstream non-profits would never be able to do, but we hope that this campaign helps inspire more campaigners to be bold and unapologetic in their campaigning comms.

www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

The People's Academy Introducing the People's Academy — your guide to the key questions of our time.

Step up your learning on liberation and class struggle by signing up for The People's Academy, an exciting online course exploring the history of resistance movements in the global south and exploring the strategies of liberation.

act.progressive.international/academy/

Fascism and the English Language A conversation with Anat Shenker-Osorio

The language we use to describe Trump and other far-right governments matters. We must not shy away from calling out fascism in our comms.

Watch this conversation between Anat Shenker-Osario and Michael Podhorzer on fascism and language.

www.weekendreading.net/p/fascism-an...

Image is a screenshot of a headline from The Guardian reading: No evidence of genocide in Gaza, UK lawers say in arms export case

Jan 2024: The International Court of Justice orders Israel to protect Palestinians from the risk of genocide

Dec 2024: @amnesty.org finds sufficient evidence to conclude that Israeli authorities’ conduct in Gaza amounts to genocide

May 2025: The UK government ⬇️

The humanitarian funding model needs radical reform, but those reforms cannot come from those currently in power in the system. True transformation can only come when crisis-affected people are the ones shaping the future of the humanitarian system.

At Microsoft’s 50th anniversary events two women of colour bravely protested the company’s complicity with the genocide in Palestine.

Their protest shows that we all can play a role in speaking out against injustice, and all must use our voice and our power to speak up on Palestine.

The far-right have weaponised anger but it can also be a source of strength. The folks at Mindworks Lab have created the Anger Handbook, which offers clear and actionable steps to harness collective anger and channel it to create socio-political change.

mindworkslab.org/wp-content/u...

Authoritarian playbook for oppressing civil society Authoritarian playbook for oppressing civil society

How we fight back against authoritarians:

💥 Let anger fuel your work

💥 Support grassroots movements

💥 Resist through people power

💥 Integrate care into your work

Read more and get access to resources: zc.vg/gmWwX?m=0

Tactics authoritarians use to restrict right to protest

Tactic 4️⃣: Create a culture of fear so people are afraid to speak out or stand up

➡️ Violence and disappearing protestors

Tactics authoritarians use to restrict right to protest

Tactic 3️⃣: Shut down and/or attack the legitimacy of civil society organisations

➡️ Raids as a tool of delegitimisation

➡️ Civil society shutdowns

Tactics authoritarians use to restrict right to protest

Tactic 2️⃣: Attack and restrict sources of funding for civil society

➡️ Cuts in funding for civil society through USAID or nationalist policies

➡️ Use of lawsuits against civil society

➡️ The spread of "Foreign Agent" laws

Tactics authoritarians use to restrict right to protest

Tactic 1️⃣: Banning protest and cracking down on freedom of expression

➡️ Banning protest and imprisoning the opposition

➡️ Banning freedom of expression and surveillance

Authoritarian playbook for oppressing civil society Authoritarian playbook for oppressing civil society

This month's Dispatch is about the tactics authoritarians use to attack the right to protest, and what we can do to fight back.

Inside the Fight for Rights of LGBTQ+ People in Africa - African Feminism (AF) The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) gained a historic win at the Kenyan Supreme Court on February 24, 2023. It was finally able to register as an official nongovernmental org...

We love this story about how Kenyan feminist writer Mumbi Makena took a DIY ethos and co-created the Trans and Queer Fund. The TQF is a community led mutual aid initiative designed by and for the trans and queer communities.

africanfeminism.com/inside-the-f...