Now Monsanto goes after civil society

Agribiz giant hits Avaaz with giant subpoena for details of everyone who signed its anti-glyphosate petition

Avaaz, which the Guardian calls "the globe's largest and most powerful online activist network", and which promotes citizen action on issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption, poverty, and toxics, has been hit with a 168-page court subpoena from Monsanto.



In the subpoena, Monsanto "commands" Avaaz to hand over every private email, note, or record it has regarding Monsanto, including the names and email addresses of all of those who have signed Monsanto campaigns. These include Avaaz's petition calling for a moratorium on glyphosate, which has attracted over 2 million signatures.



Avaaz is fundraising to fight back. It states that Monsanto has "unlimited resources", adding, "If they get their hands on all our private information, there's no telling what they'll use it for. So we're going to fight this. Because Monsanto may have unlimited resources to intimidate, but Avaaz has unlimited people power, and our members just aren't afraid."



The subpoena has been issued as part of a class action lawsuit in the US where people who believe that Monsanto's Roundup herbicide caused Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in themselves or their loved ones are suing Monsanto.



According to Avaaz, "The subpoena indicates that Monsanto needs all our private information to fight class-action lawsuits against them claiming that their glyphosate caused people's cancer. If that seems absurd to you, you're not alone. But they've gotten the authority of a US court behind them…" So Avaaz says it will hire the best lawyers it can to resist Monsanto’s subpoena.



The subpoena can be read here:

https://avaazimages.avaaz.org/monsanto-subpoena-to-avaaz-r.pdf