Crippen's ATOS cartoon
Many disabled people who have been directly affected by the ATOS Work Capability Assessment have been trying to share their experiences by coming together on Face Book, on blogs and on web sites.
But several blog creators have already been threatened with legal action unless they closed down their blog. The most recent of these being the ATOS Victims Group blog.
And from personal experience I know how vulnerable the Face Book sites are to attack, as I’ve had several of mine hacked and then closed down. Other people are reporting comments being erased from their pages and in some cases mis-information being inserted which appear to come from the account holders. Protest groups like Disabled People Against the Cuts (DPAC) have been busy backing up their Face Book files in anticipation of being hacked and shut down in this way.
Some disabled led web sites are also under attack and a couple have resorted to hosting their web sites off-shore (through a proxy server) which makes them more difficult to hack. These sites include the Black Triangle Protest Group, a group dedicated to the memory of the life of Edinburgh based disabled poet and author, Paul Reekie, who, after being notified by the Department for Work and Pensions that his benefits had been cancelled as the result of a Work Capability Assessment, tragically took his own life.
The focus for these cyber attacks seemed to be centred around comments directed against ATOS, the company commissioned by the government to carry out work capability assessments against benefits claimants. You’ll recall a recent Crippen blog (‘Sledge Hammer Tactics’) in which I addressed some of the issues around the amount of money being thrown at this project by the government.
So, how do we go about collecting all of this hard evidence from people who have been wrongly assessed by ATOS? It seems a simple enough task, especially as there must now be hundreds of disabled people who have been abused of their rights in this way. Such evidence will prove that ATOS are not ‘fit for purpose’ and should be removed from the whole benefits process as soon as possible.
I do remember hearing on the grapevine that a couple of the bigger charities were addressing this issue. Does anyone have any information on this? And I know that Brighton based Green MP Caroline Lucas has been acting on behalf of several of her constituants who have been wrongly assessed by ATOS. Are there other MPs doing similiar work
I’m happy for this blog to become a sign posting facility if there are people out there collecting this evidence, and other disabled people needing to locate them with experiences of their own. Leave your comment in the appropriate section of this blog or, if it feels safer, send me an email to ‘daveluptoncartoons@live.co.uk’ and mark the subject heading ATOS experiences. I’ll be sure to pass the information along.
Update
Since writing this blog a new group has risen from the ashes. Click here to open the new ATOS survivors blog.
Crippen Cartoons 
Posted by IrisI on 03/06/2011 at 19:30
The blighters are silencing free speech!
Posted by crippencartoons on 11/06/2011 at 07:23
They’re trying Iris, but they’re not going to succeed! 😉
Posted by abdul on 12/06/2011 at 19:04
chris grayling to select committee- ” the dwp were just rubber stamping the decisions of atos “
Posted by Crippen on ‘ATOS’ #hardesthit #ukuncut #mhuk | Dawn Willis sharing the News & Views of the Mentally Wealthy on 03/06/2011 at 19:36
[…] https://crippencartoons.wordpress.com/2011/06/03/they-dont-give-atos/ […]
Posted by They don’t give Atos! » DPAC on 03/06/2011 at 19:38
[…] As more disabled people try to share their experiences of the ATOS Work Capability Assessment, strange things are happening on the Internet. Read what Crippen has to say in his latest blog. […]
Posted by rikki reid on 04/06/2011 at 10:27
what atos does in the name of the govenment is an infringement on diabled peoples human rights
I also think the bma should withold any medical practiomers licence pratice for breaching the hypocratic oath
PUBLIC HEALTH NOT PRIVATE WEALTH
Posted by crippencartoons on 11/06/2011 at 07:22
Too true rikki. The only thing that the ConDems seem to be able to do efficiently is to undermine the current legislation that is there to protect us. Unfortunately there are so few crips out there who have the necessary knowledge and experience to stop them. I’ll keep flagging up any news about disabled people taking this course of action and how we can support them in this. We can only hope to beat them by fighting this together.
Posted by Celia1956 on 04/06/2011 at 11:36
They can try to silence us, but there are too many of us for them to take us all to court… sooooooooooo… close down one blog, open another… different name, different owner… ad infinitum.
Posted by Holmey on 05/06/2011 at 08:55
I’m one of the webmasters being threatened with legal action by Atos over an image on a website of mine that stated “Atos Kills”, with Atos claiming that statement to be libelous and that is the reason when I developed the Black Triangle Web site, (www.blacktrianglecampaign.org), I hosted it in Iceland due to the protection offered there to web site and domain owners, with a web site hosted in Iceland being the cyber equivalent of a Swiss bank account to a rich man.
As to Atos’s threat of legal action against me, F*** em, if they want their very own McLibel trial, all I can say is, bring it on, I will see you in court Mr Atos.
Posted by Rich Boorman on 09/06/2011 at 12:12
I wouldn’t worry about legal action. They would have to prove that what you’ve said is false, and there’s too much evidence against them.
Posted by crippencartoons on 11/06/2011 at 07:03
I often wish that one of the organisations that I frequently take a pop at would take me to court – in particular the Leonard Cheshire organisation. Imagine the publicity we’d get from that and the chance for all of the crips who’ve been effected by them to have their say in a public arena! But like you say Rich, I don’t think they’re going to fall for that one! 🙂
Posted by crippencartoons on 11/06/2011 at 07:09
Fuck ’em indeed Holmey! 😉
Posted by Merry Cross on 05/06/2011 at 10:00
I like Celia’s post. But you know, each time I read on DPAC postings that there has been another protest against ATOS in another town, I’m struck by the fact that there has been nothing on the national news. I think it’s time to make ourselves SO visible and SO loud that we can’t be ignored. Some of us could probably manage setting up camps; others could bring food, sing, whatever. What does anyone else think? And should it just be one in London, in order to achieve that kind of size, or smaller ones in the major towns that have already shown their disgust?
Posted by crippencartoons on 11/06/2011 at 07:08
It’s the age old story Merry. Newspaper publishers are only really interested in trotting out the same tired stereotypes with regard to disabled people. It’s what they think their readers want unfortunately. Even those of us who have worked within the media have felt that we’ve been beating our heads against a brick wall whenever we’ve tried to challenge this! 😦
Posted by They don’t give ATOS! on 05/06/2011 at 23:56
[…] Crippen Cartoons VN:F [1.9.8_1114]please wait…Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)VN:F [1.9.8_1114]Rating: 0 (from 0 votes) Bookmark the permalink. ← Giz A Job – Atos Origin Recruitment Day – Let’s Join In Revealed – The Tory Plan to Privatise the NHS → Comments […]
Posted by victimsofatoscorruption on 10/06/2011 at 11:36
I am the person who previously ran the “Atos Victims Blog”, I had terrible problems suddenly on my blog, things dissapeared, pictures, posts, links, articles etc, it was all very strange, I tried for over a week to get things back but no luck.
I’ve started up again but it will take time to get things back how I want them, If anyone has any ideas etc then please contact me on my new blog.
I would like to thank the people of “AFTER ATOS” for contacting me an offering help and support.
Lets hope I’m luckier this time..
Posted by crippencartoons on 11/06/2011 at 06:58
I think that’s all we can do. Pick up the pieces and start again … I’m sure though that they’ll get fed up sooner than we will as we’ve got truth on our side. 🙂
Posted by victimsofatoscorruption on 10/06/2011 at 11:38
My new blog details are as follows
http://victimsofatoscorruption.wordpress.com/
Posted by crippencartoons on 11/06/2011 at 06:58
Have posted this new link on the blog. Thanks and good luck 🙂
Posted by victimsofatoscorruption on 11/06/2011 at 09:42
Thanks very much, for your past and present support…
Posted by victimsofatoscorruption on 18/08/2011 at 16:52
I am not sure If you knew but Atos made a complaint to my hosts through their Legal Department and two days ago, my blog dissapeared two hours later?
I still have my wordpress blog but for how long I’m not sure. No matter what happens I shall return.
Thanks for your support.