Fighting Dirty

We're Fighting Dirty. Literally.

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[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

Like our Directors @GeorgeMonbiot @SteveHyndside & @georgiaes - you can now find us over on @bluesky https://t.co/1a2RKxDAOF

We will cross-post here for the next month or two and stop using this site entirely on January 20th. #exodus

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

Even when a government takes a step in the right direction, it can feel like no real movement when we all know there is a regulatory marathon ahead of us https://t.co/YMyGCYn7Do

[Fidra @FidraTweets]

The UK aims to cut pesticide impacts by tracking persistence and mobility. But PFAS ‘forever pesticides’ remain in use, harming wildlife, polluting water, and persisting for centuries. ❌⚠️

Why restricting PFAS pesticides could help meet UK targets...👇
https://t.co/xrn3AQNVnp

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

Like our Founding Director, George, you will see us active over at @bluesky from now on https://t.co/1a2RKxE8Ed

Do come over and say hello to us there.

[George Monbiot @GeorgeMonbiot]

This is my farewell post. I am not deleting this account, as I don’t want to lose the archive, and I don’t want my name taken by imposters. But, for as long as Musk owns the platform, I’ll no longer use it. I’m now posting at https://t.co/0iVBaQEKGy.

Since Elon Musk bought this site, he has transformed it from one on which millions could converse as equals into his personal megaphone. Now the world’s richest man uses it to wage his class war, transferring blame for the ills of capitalism onto vulnerable minorities, boosting the grimmest and most antisocial accounts while suppressing the humane voices with whom he disagrees.

He has used X not only to subvert the election for the US presidency, but to create a role for himself in US politics which, though he has never stood for election and would not be eligible, grants him immense power over the citizens of that nation. This site has been used as a tool to help replace democracy with oligarchy.

Musk claimed, on purchasing the platform, to be a “free speech absolutist”. He is in fact a prolific censor, suspending dissenting accounts and using lawsuits to shut down free speech, while employing an algorithm to increase the reach of his own posts 1,000-fold. He cannot abide a level playing field.

He has permitted or encouraged the growth of a ghost army of bots and trolls to degrade the experience of all who disagree with him. Their task is not just to abuse opponents but, perhaps more importantly, to drown intelligent conversation with a tsunami of stupidity. They respond to data with denial, expertise with execration, insight with insult, humour with hatred and thinking with thuggery. They suck the meaning out of everything. The stupidity trends in one direction: in the service of economic power. It is a weapon used to suppress the possibility of a better world.

Many years ago, when I lived in Brazil, I learnt that the military dictatorship had actively sought to suppress educational levels in schools, as it saw a well-informed population as a political threat. A confused, distracted and ignorant population is easy to manipulate. Now this counter-educational model is being rolled out worldwide, and Elon Musk is its primary sponsor.

I stayed here long after I first considered leaving, as I believed it was wrong to cede the ground to an oligarch and his minions. But I came to see that those of us who do not subscribe to Musk’s grim project are being used as groundbait: stimulating the feeding frenzy of 15-minute, 24-hour hate that now powers this platform. We can no longer build anything of value here. Brute force – the unmediated power of money – has beaten humanity, intelligence, humour and democracy.

On Bluesky I can be the person I want to be, a better person than I am on X, where it is almost impossible not to get dragged into the mud. I feel I can be understood because I am not confronting a deliberate effort to misunderstand me. So I can speak more quietly.

There is no guarantee that Bluesky will not also one day be monetised by its owners or captured by self-serving billionaires. But for now it remains a place in which interesting and enjoyable conversations can be had, kindness can be shown to strangers and a better world can be imagined. I hope to see you there.

[George Monbiot @GeorgeMonbiot]

#Xodus. January 20. Let's do it together.

[Fidra @FidraTweets]

Sewage sludge containing contaminants such as #PFAS and #microplastics is being spread on UK farmland. A precautionary approach is required to protect environmental and human health⚠️
Read our Joint Position Paper here ➡️ https://t.co/nCDHGVSjP2
https://t.co/PMsZmjSCIe

[Alistair Boxall @AlistairBoxall]

Excellent piece by @luciemheath on the problem of chemical contaminants in sewage sludge. This is a topic that government and regulators urgently need to take action on. https://t.co/wsulPMnkDN

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

Thank you to @luciemheath for taking the time to talk to @georgiaes and to understand the importance of this issue.

The ball is very much in @SteveReedMP and @DefraGovUK’s court. Will they act with the urgency this issue requires. RT if you think they should.

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

Thank you to @luciemheath for taking the time to talk to @georgiaes and to understand the importance of this issue.

The ball is very much in @SteveReedMP and @DefraGovUK’s court. Will they act with the urgency this issue requires. RT if you think they should.

[Fidra @FidraTweets]

#PFAS present in sewage sludge have the potential to contaminate soils and therefore crops. Some US states have already experienced drastic effects of PFAS contamination in their soils⬇️
https://t.co/XZt1C0cLfv

[Tess Colley @TessColley]

.@GeorgeMonbiot, writer, environmentalist & co-founder of the campaign group @FightDirtyOrg said “neglect of this issue is astounding”.

He added that "consumers have no idea what they are eating. Ministers & regulators are looking the other way".
https://t.co/rZonB3VZAQ

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

A must read 👇

[Tess Colley @TessColley]

🚨EXCLUSIVE🚨

Sewage sludge fertiliser sold to farmers by water companies contains a banned ‘forever chemical’ at levels in excess of those considered safe in emerging science, a months-long @TheENDSReport investigation I've done has revealed

➡️https://t.co/yvrlNVhwku

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

Our Founding Director @GeorgeMonbiot hits the nail on the head in this @TheENDSReport article, “neglect of this issue is astounding”.

Read @TessColley's piece on water companies selling sludge fertiliser containing ‘forever chemical’ to farmers here https://t.co/EmVdV1rHjd

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

Congratulations to one of our Founding Director’s @georgiaes

[Breakthrough Impact @BrktrhImpact]

🏆 – Congratulations to the ten inspiring campaigners who have been awarded @TenaciousAwards for this year!

We can't wait to work with the winners to support them to deliver social change and achieve their campaign goals.

Find out more about them here ▶️ https://t.co/hczyBAAogg

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

This is now a question for @UKLabour …

[Tess Colley @TessColley]

A judge dismissed @FightDirtyOrg's case because the power to make the changes the EA said it wanted to see on this issue does not sit with the agency, but with DEFRA.

The questions is whether @SteveReedMP has more appetite for it than his predecessors.
https://t.co/tPLtS8WZvT

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

🧵👇

[Tess Colley @TessColley]

✨Sewage sludge✨

It doesn’t sound pretty, but it might be time to get better acquainted, as it may be being spread on a field near you. But what's in it? Microplastics? PFAS? Antibiotics?

Come with me on a typically glamorous journey...🧵 💩👀👨‍🌾

➡️https://t.co/PIEH70n1RO

[Zach Boren @zdboren]

failure to bring in new regulations for sewage sludge use on farms was the fault of tory environment ministers not the environment agency, judge rules

https://t.co/LlFLoGKNiC

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

BREAKING: Toxic sewage sludge case thrown out, as judge rules that the Environment Agency were hamstrung by Ministerial delays. https://t.co/L3aR0GUf8k @GeorgeMonbiot @SteveHyndside @georgiaes

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

News dropping later today. Stay tuned.

[Fighting Dirty @FightDirtyOrg]

@agricynic @FarmersWeekly @GeorgeMonbiot @georgiaes @SteveHyndside Crucially, the Environment Agency did investigate this. In 2017. And concluded things must change. It’s their decision to then remove and not replace their target date for action we’re now challenging.