How a US-Based PR Firm Is Profiling Activists, Scientists Opposing Pesticides and GMO
Sarasvati Thuppadolla, Margot Gibbs and Elena DeBre https://thewire.in/agriculture/how-a-us-based-pr-firm-is-profiling-activists-scientists-opposing-pesticides-and-gmo The firm spearheading this work is Missouri-based v-Fluence Interactive, founded and run by a former Monsanto executive, Jay Byrne, who previously worked as a communications executive at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Since its creation in 2001, v-Fluence has provided a range of services including “in depth research, ongoing intelligence gathering, proprietary data-mining and analytics” to the global agrochemical and biotechnology industry.
v-Fluence also has links to corporate pesticide giants such as Syngenta which is currently facing a lawsuit in the US, with Byrne and v-Fluence as co-defendants. The lawsuit was filed by farmers with Parkinson’s disease who have alleged that their illness was caused by the company’s paraquat herbicide. They accuse Syngenta and v-Fluence of suppressing negative information on the dangers of paraquat, working to “neutralise” those who criticise it, and investigating the social media pages of people who reported injuries to Syngenta’s crisis hotline.