Olivier Hoedeman

'We Will Not Back Down,' Says Indivisible as Trump Aims FBI, IRS at Liberal Groups | Common Dreams "Let’s call this what it is: A baseless attempt to chill free speech and scare people away from exercising their constitutional right to protest an authoritarian regime."

“Let’s call this what it is: A baseless attempt to chill free speech and scare people away from exercising their constitutional right to protest an authoritarian regime.” | Common Dreams Oct 10, 2025

www.commondreams.org/news/trump-t...

A social dumping disaster? EU’s ‘ 28th Regime’ plans could help corporations bypass member state rules | Corporate Europe Observatory In the name of competitiveness, corporate lobby groups are promoting a radical plan to create an EU-level ‘28th regime’ of parallel, weaker rules. This could help corporations to avoid stricter member...

🚫 Lately, Allied for Startups has lobbied for the so-called '28th regime', a set of weaker EU rules on taxation and labour rights - a social dumping disaster in the making.

EU policy-makers should close the door to Big Tech’s shady lobbying tactics

www.corporateeurope.org/en/2025/09/s...

One curious thing on this site about speaking out against the encroachment of LLMs is that inevitably you get accused of being anti-tech. I don’t hate technology. I’ve used machine learning in my own code before. But I also recognize that oligarchs are so hellbent on pushing this tech for a reason.

Bad news for night train lovers: 🌙 The Paris–Berlin/Vienna connection ends this December, and the Berlin–Stockholm route will follow in 2026. Politics, not passengers, are derailing Europe’s night trains. We need fair conditions & stable support for sustainable travel. 🚆💔

⚠️For years, the Big Tech front group Allied for Startups has been underreporting its lobby budget.

👏 Following a complaint by CEO and @lobbycontrol.bsky.social, Allied for Startups has now been forced by the EU Transparency Register to correct its registration.

👉 corporateeurope.org/en/media/6430

Hope is not naïve optimism It is a political choice

Democracy must not be a politics of closure but of continual renewal. Fear closes the future.

Politics must be more than fear. Democracy is worth defending not only because it protects rights but because it keeps the future open.

www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democ...

💰 EU billionaires’ wealth surged by €400 billion in just six months — that’s over €2 billion a day.

Meanwhile, ordinary Europeans are paying the price.

Our new report shows how decades of tax policies have favored the super-rich 👇

A 🧵

#TaxTheRich #ECOFIN

Where do startup policies come from?

Probably not from startups.

Most can hardly afford to keep the lights on, so how do they afford to lobby for changing national policy?

Answer: Big Tech’s money

3/n

Larry Ellison, l'autre milliardaire réactionnaire de la tech... dont vous n'avez pas encore assez entendu parler Plus discret qu'un Elon Musk sur ses accointances politiques, le patron d'Oracle Larry Ellison est en train de se construire un véritable empire médiatique outre-Atlantique avec l'acquisition du group...

[ENQUETE]

Plus discret que Musk, le patron d’Oracle Larry Ellison est en train de bâtir un empire médiatique qui inclura peut-être bientôt TikTok et CNN

Une force de frappe qu’il pourrait mettre au service de ses amis Trump, Blair et Netanyahu

➡️ multinationales.org/fr/enquetes/...
#FAF40

Donald Trump is ordering extrajudicial killings of suspected drug smugglers.

He's vilifying his political opponents and threatening to jail them.

His ICE agents are terrorizing immigrants and firing chemical agents at peaceful protestors.

And some people think he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize?

Three letters. One message.

🎥 Watch “Return to Sender”, our message to President @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu : If they’re too dangerous for us, they’re too dangerous for anyone.
#Mancozeb

#StopToxicExport #EndDoubleStandards

📣 Doe mee! Nog 6 dagen te gaan om de EU te vertellen dat we geen afzwakking van regels rond voedselveiligheid en pesticiden willen.
Lees dit artikel en schrijf mee! Deadline 14 oktober.

📣 CALL TO ACTION! Tell the Commission: no weakening of rules on #food and #feed safety, #pesticides

Deadline is 14 October so please act fast.

Socialists cave to center-right demands to slash EU green rules The Socialists and liberals folded after the center-right EPP threatened to ditch them and work with the far right instead.

Ondertussen in Europa is de partijfamilie van @henri.cda.nl erin geslaagd het Europees klimaatbeleid flink af te zwakken door te dreigen samen te werken met radicaal rechts (waardoor de sociaal-democraten inschikten met de eisen van de christen-democraten.)

www.politico.eu/article/soci...

Deregulation Watch | Corporate Europe Observatory Check out our new posts on Deregulation Watch which helps civil society monitor new developments in the deregulation agenda, assess what’s at stake, and organise in defence of strong social, environme...

This week #DeregulationWatch reports on the powerful intervention by UN Special Rapporteur on toxics & human rights Marcos Orellana criticising the EU's Chemicals omnibus saying “there is no compelling justification” for the proposed measures.

#Deregulation

corporateeurope.org/en/deregulat...

Shocking: In Berlin, SPD accepts social cuts in coalition with CDU, in Brussels S&D agrees to weaken corporate sustainability rules. Conservatives blackmail S&D with threat do vote with the far right. How about saving democracy by challenging corporate monopoly power & tackling inequality instead?

📢 EU Billionaires’ wealth surges by over €400bn in first half of 2025.

That’s over €2bn a day.

🔗https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/eu-billionaires-wealth-surges-over-eu400-billion-first-half-2025

#TaxTheRich

You have heard the EU bubble's new buzzword "deregulation" and you have no idea what it means?
Or even better, you know what it means and whant to know how to fight it?
That's why we joined forces with out friends at @lobbycontrol.bsky.social to create free lobby tour of Brussels about the D-word!👇

Sponsored Hate: How Politicians Paid for Meta Ads to Attack Journalists - VSquare.org Across the Visegrád countries, politicians have increasingly used paid social media ads to attack journalists, human rights activists, and civil society organizations.

💥🔎💰NEW INVESTIGATION: Across the Visegrád countries, politicians use paid social media ads to attack journalists, human rights activists, and NGOs – while Meta & Google profit from this #SponsoredHate. Such ads reach tens of thousands of users while evading platform moderation. @vsquare.bsky.social

📣 We have launched a new #PFAS manifesto
👉 www.banpfasmanifesto.org/en/

🧪 PFAS are a group of over 10,000 chemicals and due to their longevity, pose a serious threat to human health.

🚫 A strict phase-out of all PFAS is the only way to protect current & future generations.

#BanPFAS #StopPFAS

Very important findings.

These results show that no one escapes #PFAS contamination & that a comprehensive ban is long overdue.

It's time to stand up to the #ForeverChemicals industry lobby.
Read more here: corporateeurope.org/en/chemical-...

Take action today: action.wemove.eu/sign/2024-01...

Economic effects of the EU CSDDD considering the Omnibus process Study on the Economic Benefits of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) DOWNLOAD THE REPORT Authors:Johannes JägerGonzalo DuránLukas SchmidtVincenzo MaccarroneBenjam...

Yet another call against deregulation @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu

EU strong standards needed for a sound economy and fair competitiveness @eppgroup.bsky.social

www.cidse.org/2025/09/29/e...

"Europeans, let's wake up!" — Defend Democracy “We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to social networks.” President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025.

1/Striking speech by Macron: The future of European democracy depends on taking back its digital information space. A remarkable turn from Silicon Valley as source of enlightenment to being a purveyor of slop. And the stakes aren't just ad revenue but the nation.
defenddemocracy.eu/macron-democ...

🎥Corporate Underminers of Democracy 2025

🗣️"Why are govts awarding contracts to a company like Amazon—one that bullies workers, ignores democratic norms, and flouts ethical standards? Unions worldwide are demanding better." Nick Rudikoff @uniglobalunion.org

📺 buff.ly/sCSacwB
📰 buff.ly/2dJKKWU

Trump’s new EU trade deal pressures Europe to buy fossil fuels and give in to blackmail.
This isn’t the future we want.
Tell EU leaders to stand up for people and the planet. ✊

👉 Sign the petition: go.wemove.eu/SayNoToTrump

Say NO to Trump’s trade deal EU Commission President von der Leyen caved in to pressure from US President Trump. Tell Europe’s leaders to reject the trade deal and protect climate and citizens today.

EU Commission President von der Leyen caved in to pressure from US President Trump.

Tell Europe’s leaders to reject the trade deal and protect climate and citizens today ⬇️
action.wemove.eu/sign/2025-10...

🚨 Endspurt! Das #Lieferkettengesetz schützt #Menschenrechte, #Umwelt und #Klima. Doch der Bundeskanzler will es abschwächen. 📢 Wir sagen: Hände weg vom Lieferkettengesetz!
👉 Unterschreibe noch bis Montag unsere Petition: lieferkettengesetz.de/lieferketten...

#LieferkettengesetzRetten

Europe bans toxic pesticides… but exports them abroad ! Let’s stop this toxic trade together !

👉 Share the video & tag
@vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @christophehansen.bsky.social @jessikaroswall.ec.europa.eu

👉 Sign the petitions
www.foodwatch.org/en/stop-the-...
www.openpetition.eu/petition/onl...

UN human rights expert slams EU chemical deregulation push Special Rapporteur Marcos Orellana writes that a European Commission proposal “seems to conflict” with basic “rights to health and environmental protection.”

UN human rights expert slams EU chemical deregulation push
Special Rapporteur Marcos Orellana writes that a European Commission proposal “seems to conflict” with basic “rights to health and environmental protection.”

www.politico.eu/article/un-h...

A map of Europe titled "Help Stop #ChatControl!" shows countries color-coded by their government's stance on Chat Control in 2025. The legend indicates: green for "Not in Favour," blue for "Undecided," and red for "In Favour." Countries in favour (red) are: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. Countries not in favour (green) are: Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Countries undecided (blue) are: Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania. The map includes the text "Is your government opposing it yet?" and a call to action at the bottom: "Act now! www.chatcontrol.eu".

🇪🇺🚨 HUGE NEWS: #ChatControl vote reportedly to be postponed (unconfirmed)! 🎉 Our protests are working! https://x.com/SeppTyvaert/status/1973788987442803023

But it's just a delay. Many governments are still undecided. ⏰ Tell YOURS to join the resistance […]

[Original post on digitalcourage.social]