ARTISTS PROTEST AMAZON FESTIVAL

More than 800 artists have signed a petition protesting the intersect festival being staged by Amazon Web Services demanding that Amazon sever ties with military, law enforcement and government agencies such as ICE.

The artists pledge to not participate in Amazon-sponsored events or engage in exclusive partnerships with Amazon until Amazon stops providing Cloud services to organizations such as Palantir behind deportations; end projects such as facial recognition that encourage racial profiling and discrimination; and reject future engagements with “bad actors.”

“We will not allow Amazon to exploit our creativity to promote its brand while it enables attacks on immigrants, communities of color, workers, and local economies,” the No Music for ICE org writes. “We call on all artists who believe in basic rights and human dignity to join us.”

The letter is still open for more signatures.