In the recent Greenpeace direct action against Nestlé, which I have labeled as The Kit Kat Incident, early in the fray the NGO accused Nestlé, the target of the Greenpeace social media campaign, of censorship when Nestlé asked YouTube to delete a Greenpeace culture jamming protest video from the YouTube site. If you are unfamiliar with The Kit Kat Incident, you may catch up on the details by going to this Wall Street Journal article.

Accusations of censorship can cut both ways.

At about the time that The Kit Kat Incident was simmering down, according to British newspaper, The Guardian, Greenpeace India’s communications director, Gene Hashmi, posted this entry on the Greenpeace blog:

If you’re one of those who have spent their lives undermining progressive climate legislation, bankrolling junk science, fuelling spurious debates around false solutions and cattle-prodding democratically-elected governments into submission, then hear this: We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work. And we be many, but you be few.

Now, per the Guardian story, this entry was posted on Thursday, April 1, 2010. Was it an “April Fool?” No article that I have read about this somewhat, at least, threatening post has indicated that it was an April Fool. The Guardian reports that hours after this Greenpeace blog post, the blogosphere was alight with conversation regarding these Greenpeace words “as nothing less than an incitement to intimidation.”

The Guardian’s story further reports that over the days that followed, Greenpeace Web staff tried their best at damage control, posting explanations as to the “real” nature of the post (i.e., in PR parlance, this is called “walking it back”), but then finally elected to remove the questionable post on Tuesday, April 6, 2010.

Censorship? Yes.

Hypocritical? Especially when compared to their own censorship accusation against Nestlé about two weeks previous? Definitely.

This example of Greenpeace not being able to “bear the heat of the kitchen” points out another weakness in Greenpeace’s media strategy, particularly as it concerns the social web. And it also goes toward demonstrating the attitude of Greenpeace toward the ideas of “openness” and “transparency” upon which the social web is presumed to be built.

What was it that George Orwell said in Animal Farm? About “all pigs being equal?”