Just days after a nationwide general strike to protest the Trump administration’s brutal crackdown on immigration, a new group is now embarking on a longer, coordinated economic strike, this time targeting a handful of technology companies.
“Resist and unsubscribe” is a month-long economic strike that focuses primarily on tech and AI companies, that is, “where economic and political power is most concentrated,” according to Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at NYU Stern, who is leading the movement.
“The most radical action in a capitalist society is non-participation”, Galloway said in a video promoting the boycott. “The Trump administration is not responding to outrage; it is responding to economic signals.”
The movement identified 10 subscription-based consumer technology and AI companies that they say have outsized influence on both Trump and the economy. These companies are Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Paramount+, Uber, Netflix, X, Meta and OpenAI.
“The U.S. economy is a giant bet on AI, with seven tech companies accounting for more than a third of the S&P 500. That means the best way to spark positive change, without harming consumers, is to lead an economic strike that tech CEOs cannot ignore,” Galloway wrote in a statement. blog post.
These big tech companies not only keep the economy running, but they also enjoy unprecedented access to the president. Silicon Valley interests have been heavily present in Trump’s approach to trade And regulation. One of the few instances where he backed away from his threats during his big attack on anti-ICE protesters was his decision to refrain from increasing the federal force in San Francisco, which he said he changed his mind about after speaking to tech executives such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.
Not only have tech companies had influence over Trump’s decisions, but some have also lent support to his immigration policies. Last October, Apple deleted an app that lets users track ICE activity because Attorney General Pam Bondi asked them to, and Palantir built a $30 million project monitoring platform for the agency.
Tech workers are also aware of this influence, and many have signed on a letter asking company executives to speak out publicly, end all contracts with ICE and demand that the White House end the crackdown. After the letter was published, Apple CEO Tim Cook said employees that he had raised the issue in a conversation with Trump.
As part of the new boycott, protesters are spending the entire month of February unsubscribing from paid services offered by these 10 major technology companies, such as Amazon Prime, Uber One, ChatGPT Plus, Microsoft Office or YouTube Premium. Organizers are also asking people to refrain from purchasing Apple hardware products until March and to remove Meta platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook. They will, however, continue to use Instagram as a way to spread the message, but will ask boycotters to refrain from clicking on ads and purchasing from links you may encounter on the platform.
The strike will also target nine consumer-facing companies they claim are “active enablers of ICE”: AT&T, Comcast, Charter Communications, Dell, FedEx, UPS, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Spotify and Marriott.
AT&T, Xfinity Provider Comcastand computer manufacturer Dell’s government contracting arm have all signed contracts with ICE to offer their services to the agency. Charter, the parent company of Internet provider Spectrum, provides cable television and Internet services to the Office of Homeland Security Investigations in Beaumont, TX. A 404 Media An August report claimed that Home Depot and Lowe’s share access to data from their AI-powered license plate readers with law enforcement surveillance systems that ICE may use, but Home Depot has since denied this statement. Spotify was under fire late last year for running ICE recruiting ads on its platform, carriers FedEx And UPS have delivery contracts with the agency, and the reports have claimed that a Marriott-owned Sheraton hotel in Louisiana was being used by ICE agents to detain detained families.
Protesters have already succeeded in causing companies to lose their business partnerships with ICE, such as with Avelo Airlines, which decided last month to stop its ICE deportation flights after months of scrutiny. And on Sunday, French technology giant Capgemini ceded of its U.S. subsidiary that did business with ICE, following scrutiny from union workers and French government officials.
Although the general strike and “Resist and Unsubscribe” aim to hit Trump where it hurts, the month-long strike is a more sustained and hyper-targeted approach, targeting only a group of big companies. Retail analysts said Axios On Friday, general strikes tend to have difficulty maintaining participation over the days, which is when they would really start to impact sales data.
“It’s easy for me to tell other people to stop working and risk being laid off; this kind of walkout would only hurt small businesses and likely lead to more job losses,” Galloway said on his blog. “We are also not urging local businesses to sacrifice sales and close their doors for a day, a symbolic but ultimately ineffective tool.”
Gizmodo solicited comments from Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Paramount+, Uber, Netflix, X, Meta, AT&T, Comcast, Dell, Charter, FedEx, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Marriott, Spotify, UPS and OpenAI. We will update if we receive a response.
