"I was recently riding a Lime scooter around downtown DC (don't hate the player) and zipped across the intersection of 16th Street and I Street NW when I zoomed by the Motion Picture Association's office building. Except now it had the logo of America 250 over the door. The last time I'd run into this nonprofit, it was at the 2025 Bitcoin Conference, where it was shaking down the crypto industry to pay for President Donald Trump's controversial military parade."
"Apparently, in the subsequent months, America250 - which is, to reiterate, a nonprofit established by Congress to plan next year's nationwide celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence - had started shaking down even more companies. Framing the doorway were the logos of several corporations now, apparently, participating in the America250 initiative: Netflix, Amazon MGM Studios, Disney, Paramount, Sony and Universal Studios. And at least three of those companies have been dealing with corporate mergers that require the Trump administration's signoff!"
An organization called America250 displays corporate logos and solicits payments from companies to fund nationwide 250th anniversary celebrations. The group previously sought funds from the crypto industry for a proposed military parade. Major studios including Netflix, Amazon MGM, Disney, Paramount, Sony, and Universal appear to participate, and several of these companies are pursuing mergers requiring Trump administration approval. Separately, a 2021 lawsuit by Trump and allies against YouTube ended in a $24.5 million settlement after disputes over suspended channels and platform moderation. YouTube's private-company status allowed content moderation decisions despite First Amendment claims.
Read at The Verge
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