US-funded ‘social network’ attacking pesticide critics shuts down after Guardian investigation | Farming

A The American company, which was secretly describing hundreds of health and environmental defenders at a web gate, said that it stopped operations in the face of a widespread violent reaction, after its actions. It was revealed by the guardian And other reports partners.

The Saint Louis-based V-Fluence, which is based in Missouri, said the closure of the service, which was called “Institutes Wiki”, which included personal details about more than 500 environmental defenders, scientists, politicians and other pesticides and genetically modified crops (GM).

It was among those who were classified Robert P. Kennedy JuniorPresident Trump’s controversial selection of the Minister of Health and Humanitarian Services.

Definition files – part of the voltage, often provide, by partly, by US taxpayers dollars – provides insulting information about industry opponents and included home addresses, phone numbers and family members details, including children.

They were provided with the members of the invitation web gate, where V-Fluence provided a set of other information to the list of more than 1000 members. Among the membership of the American organizational and political agencies, executives are among the largest agricultural chemical companies in the world, pressure groups, academics and others.

The stereotype was one of the elements of the batch to reduce the risk of pests, the opponents of distorting the reputation and undermining international policies, according to the court records, Email messages and other documents It is obtained by the Night News Room reports.

LightHouse cooperated with The Guardian, New LEDE, Le Monde, Africa Unfortunately, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and other international media partners in publishing the investigation in September 2024.

The news of the steering and the private web gate sparked anger and threats of litigation by some of the classified people and organizations.

London Research Professor Michael Antonio, who was classified on the gate with insulting information about his personal life and family members, said he feared that the procedures to download the personal files will be “very late.”

“Those who have been identified still do not know who has reached the information and how it was used,” he said. “Did we hinder our professional life or nearby doors that may be open to us? The fact that the V-Fluence and the industries they serve have resorted to these hidden methods show that they are unable to win at the level of science.”

V-Fluence says he was not only limited to eliminating stereotypes, but also made “large discounts in employees” after general exposure, according to Jay Bern, former CEO of Public Relations in Monsanto who established the company and its head. Burn blamed the company’s struggles for “the high costs arising from continuing the harassment and activists of our employees, partners and customers with threats and distortions.”

He said that the articles published on the company’s profile and the online profile were part of a “distortion campaign” based on “wrong and misleading” that “did not support any facts or evidence.”

In addition to the company’s problems, many companies and industry supporters have canceled contracts with V-Fluence, according to Posted in Agricultural Professional Publications.

“Intelligence Gather”

Since its launch in 2001, the V-Fluence has worked with the world’s largest pesticide and presented Self -described services This includes “Intelligence Collection”, “Royal Data Mining” and “Risk Communications”.

One of the agents over the age of 20 is Syntenta, a company owned by Chinese governmental institutions currently being prosecuted by thousands of people in the United States and Canada who claim to have developed an unspeakable brain Parkinson’s disease from the use of weeds killers in Syntenta. The first American trial is scheduled to start in March. Many others are scheduled for the following months.

Bern and V-Fluece are called as prosecutors involved in one cases against Senganta. They are accused of helping Ceninsta to suppress information about the risks that Barakat can cause the company in Parkinson’s disease, and to help “neutralize” its critics. (Syntenta Deny There is a causal link between Paquat and Parkinson’s.

V-Fluence, which also had the former agricultural company Montanto As a customerHe received some funding from the United States government as part of a contract with a third party. General spending records appear at the United States Agency for International Development (UsaidA separate non -governmental organization was contracted to run a government initiative to enhance General Motors crops in African and Asian countries.

This organization, the International Institute for Food Policy Research (IFPRI), has paid a little more than $ 400,000 from 2013 to 2019 for services that included equal critics “modern agricultural approach” in Africa and Asia.

The “Special Social Network Gate” created by the V-Fluence was part of the contract, and it was supposed to provide, among other things, “tactical support” for efforts to accept acceptance General Motors crops.

A separate contract signed by the US Department of Agriculture in the last months of Donald TrumpIt also provided the first period for government employees to reach the gate, including “stakeholders specialists” on scientists and activists who say V-Fluence says is now removed.

The background tools of the stakeholders included profiles on Kennedy, as well as the Mesry Oz, Trump’s candidate to oversee medical care.

Kennedy’s profile described him as “an anti -junior activist and anti -genetically modified organisms and combating the granular, which adopts various health and environmental plot claims.”

Legal questions

After the operations were published in articles by the Guardian and the media partners, the V-Fluence participated in a law firm to conduct an independent review of whether the description has violated the European Union or not General data protection regulation (GDP). The list aims to protect the individual’s right to collect and use his personal data.

The analysis found that the V-Fluence was “not subject to GDP”, but it recommended the V-Fluence “Personal data for the European Union in line with the requirements of GDP in the event of the application of the regulations”, the company ” He said in a statement. The company said that one of the recommendations is to remove personal files.

V-Fluence will continue to “provide research to stakeholders with updated guidelines to avoid their future interpretations of our work product,” according to the company’s statement.

Windy WagnerLegal professor at the University of Texas said with experience in organizing toxic materials, that it seems that there is a simple, valid reason to maintain this database other than its use to harass opponents.

Wagner said: “I am aware of the harassment of companies for scientists who produce an unwanted research, and sometimes this includes the scandal of personal information about the world to make their work seem less credible,” said Wagner. “But I did not face the use of larger databases, tracking the personal details of many of the company’s critics [including independent scientists and journalists]. It is difficult to see the importance of personal details less than use as harassing. “

This story is published with New Ladyfor Press project for the Environmental Work Group