NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> Internet Vigilante-ism
ONLINE-ADS>> Internet Vigilante-ism
Ned Barnett (interned_at_accessnv.com)
Thu, 24 Apr 1997 08:35:16 -0700
This warning is as serious as a heart attack. Internet vigilante-ism
has taken a new turn - and we (PR and marketing professionals) are the
targets ... I'd like your thoughts and your input in what may shape up
to be a PR crisis the likes of which I have yet to experience.
One hour ago at 12:30 a.m., I got the first of what is supposed to be a
tidal wave of hundreds or thousands of harrassing calls from members of
the Drug Reform Coordination Network (http://www.drcnet.org) -- these
calls will come in on my Agency's (Lindsey Bradley & Maloy) 800-line,
all because I posted release for my clients, PreventCo and the American
Foundation for Drug Prevention on their new product, the Drug Free
Business PAK.
Here's the story ...
Someone from this activist anti-drug-testing group saw my release on
the PR Newswire; a member ("The Hemperor") called me just after 12:30
a.m. to leave a harrassing message on my voice mail. Thinking it was my
wife calling, I answered - and in doing so, I was able to find out what
was going on. The 45-minute conversation was rambling (as you might
guess from a midnight call from The Hemperor), but I did find out about
the group and their aims.
1. They feel the "truth" about hemp and drugs is being surpressed by a
government/media conspiracy
2. They feel they have a 4th Amendment right to not submit to o-t-j
drug testing
3. They feel they have a moral right to attack, vigilante style (via
phone and e-mail) any person or organization that advocates, in the
media, drug testing in the workplace (and those individuals' 1st
Amendment free speech rights be damned)
4. Like "ACT UP" and other urban guerrilla groups, they see this as
both a moral right and "fun" - they enjoy "boycotting" people and
organizations that advocate drug testing - and by "boycotting," they
mean "shut down"
5. They have a library of "facts" - and a game plan for "activism" on
their website (check it out - download and study it, please)
6. They have a real problem with the Partnership for a Drug Free
America, which they claim is funded by a cabal of alcohol and tobacco
companies, to the tune of $millions
7. They are coming after my agency on Thursday
As I spoke to The Hemperor and found out more about the group's aims, I
keyed in on the drug testing issue, and told him my client's new
Business PAK doesn't include or advocate drug testing - that it was an
educational program for managers and employees. I got him to agree to
post to their list to "call off the dogs." I also got the address and
posted there myself, asking members to refrain from vigilante-ism
against us. Whether that works, only time will tell.
But these folks will not go away, and my agency and my client need to
prepare now for the onslaught. We also need to address certain questions
- do we take it passively, do we fight back (via the media)?
Do we have any legal recourse? (probably not, if they stick to phone and
e-mail, and don't get obscene) - but even then, this is a network of
individuals, rather than an "organization" taking "official" actions.
Right now, I am suggesting to my client that we see what happens - but
be ready to consider a counter-attack in the media if they get out of
hand.
This is a threat to the livelihoods and freedoms of all PR
professionals, marketers and others who exercise their 1st Amendment
Commercial Free Speech rights on and off the internet, and I really
welcome your insights and input. For my part, I will keep you and this
list posted ...
Ned Barnett, APR
Lindsey Bradley & Maloy
