commit: ad340b870ad4c12de95836655cf898c8706135df
parent 18e01b174482e5074bfda4311c1d764070a64ca4
Author: Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2025 15:33:34 +0100
Last minute editorial feedback from protest volunteers
Diffstat:
1 file changed, 23 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)
diff --git a/content/blog/2025-01-20-FOSDEM-protest.md b/content/blog/2025-01-20-FOSDEM-protest.md
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ date: 2025-01-20
---
[Last week][previous], I wrote to object to Jack Dorsey and his company, Block,
-Inc, being accepted as main track speakers at FOSDEM, and proposed a protest
-action in response. [FOSDEM issued a statement in response][statement] on
+Inc., being accepted as main track speakers at FOSDEM, and proposed a protest
+action in response. [FOSDEM issued a statement about our plans][statement] on
Thursday.
Today, I have some updates for you regarding the planned action.
@@ -17,27 +17,27 @@ I would like to emphasize that we are not protesting FOSDEM or its organizers.
We are protesting Jack Dorsey and his company, first and foremost, from
promoting their business at FOSDEM. We are members of the FOSDEM community. We
have variously been speakers, devroom organizers, volunteers, and attendees for
-years -- in other words, we are not activism tourists. We have a deep
+years --- in other words, we are not activism tourists. We have a deep
appreciation for the organizers and all of the work that they have done over the
years to make FOSDEM such a success.
That we are taking action demonstrates that we value FOSDEM, that we believe it
-represents our community, and that we want to defend its -- our -- ethos.
-Insofar as we have a message to FOSDEM organizers, it is one of gratitude, and
-an appeal to build a more open and participatory process, in the spirit of open
-source, and especially to improve transparency on the talk selection process,
-sponsorship terms, and conflict of interest policies, so protests like ours are
-not necessary in the future. To be clear, we do not object to the need for
-sponsors generally at FOSDEM -- we understand that FOSDEM is a free, volunteer
-driven event, many of us having volunteered for years -- but we do object
-specifically to Jack Dorsey and Block, Inc being selected as sponsors and
-especially as speakers.
+represents our community, and that we want to defend its --- our --- ethos.
+Insofar as we have a message to the FOSDEM organizers, it is one of gratitude,
+and an appeal to build a more open and participatory process, in the spirit of
+open source, and especially to improve the transparency of the talk selection
+process, sponsorship terms, and conflict of interest policies, so protests like
+ours are not necessary in the future. To be clear, we do not object to the need
+for sponsors generally at FOSDEM --- we understand that FOSDEM is a free,
+volunteer driven event, many of us having volunteered for years --- but we do
+object specifically to Jack Dorsey and Block, Inc. being selected as sponsors
+and especially as speakers.
As for the planned action, I have some more information for anyone who wishes to
participate. Our purpose is to peacefully disrupt Dorsey's talk, and *only*
Dorsey's talk, which is scheduled to take place between 12:00 and 12:30 on
Sunday, February 2nd in Janson. If you intend to participate, we will be meeting
-outside of *upper* entrance to Janson at 11:45 AM. We will be occupying the
+outside of the *upper* entrance to Janson at 11:45 AM. We will be occupying the
stage for the duration of the scheduled time slot in order to prevent the talk
from proceeding as planned.
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ Dorsey's time slot is scheduled to end at 12:30, but we may end up staying as
late as 14:00 to hand the room over to the next scheduled talk.
I've been pleased by the response from volunteers (some of whom helped with this
-update -- thanks!), but we still need a few more! I have set up a mailing list
+update --- thanks!), but we still need a few more! I have set up a mailing list
for planning the action. If you plan to join, and especially if you're willing
and able to help with additional tasks that need to be organized, please
[contact me directly](mailto:sir@cmpwn.com) to receive an invitation to the
@@ -72,14 +72,14 @@ It has also been pointed out that Dorsey does not bear sole responsibility for
Twitter's sale. However, he is complicit and he profited handsomely from the
sale and all of its harmful consequences. The sale left the platform at the
disposal of the far right, causing a sharp rise in hate speech and harassment
-and the lay-offs of 3,700 of the Twitter employees that made it worth so much to
-Jack's net worth in the first place.
-
-His complicity, along with his present-day activities at Block, Inc and the
-priorities of the company that he represents as CEO -- its irresponsible climate
-policy, $120M in fines for enabling consumer fraud, and the lay-offs of another
-1,000 employees in 2024 despite posting record profits on $5B in revenue -- are
-enough of a threat to our community and its ethos to raise alarm at his
+and the layoffs of 3,700 of the Twitter employees that made it worth so much in
+the first place.
+
+His complicity, along with his present-day activities at Block, Inc. and the
+priorities of the company that he represents as CEO --- its irresponsible
+climate policy, $120M in fines for enabling consumer fraud, and the layoffs of
+another 1,000 employees in 2024 despite posting record profits on $5B in revenue
+--- are enough of a threat to our community and its ethos to raise alarm at his
participation in FOSDEM. We find this compelling enough to take action to
prevent him and his colleagues from using FOSDEM's platform to present
themselves as good actors in our community and sell us their new "AI agentic
