Issue and Opponent: Shell is one of the largest oil and gas producers in Nigeria. In the 1990s, it was alleged that Shell collaborated with the Nigerian military regime at the time to suppress opposition to its oil development violently. In total, more than 60 villages were raided, over 800 people were killed, and more than 30,000 were left displaced from their homes. The issue had been raised to the Supreme Court in the case, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum.
Dilemma Action: A few days before the case was to be heard, the Yes Lab aided the People Against Legalizing Murder (PALM) in an action to draw attention to the case. Together, they created a website that provided employees with information about the case, as well as ways to tweet about their feelings regarding it. The website was later presented to Shell employees after PALM had received a file with more than 71,000 emails from Shell employees. The group sent out an internal email that claimed to be from Shell’s false “Grassroots Employee Empowerment Division,” complete with the Shell logo, links to genuine websites, and Shell’s customary footnotes. Nearly all of Shell’s employees received about four emails, and several wrote back asking for more information on the case, thus publicizing the case that Shell was working so hard to cover up. Within minutes Shell’s IT department had blocked employee access to the fake website.
Outcomes: The Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum case was heard on October 1st, 2012. Shell argued that because it was a corporation, it couldn’t be held accountable for the orders of villagers in US courts. The Supreme Court concluded that the Alien Tort Statute could not be applied in this particular case as it was not intended to be applied extraterritorial.