i think the case here was also complicated because the US is basically uninvolved entirely aside from allegations of Bad Stuff happening via new york. may be misinterpreting things tho
Yes, this is a good point.
power and authority are different tho, and corporations don't typically command authority even if they have power. since governments are institutionalized and rigid it makes sense that they would have closer scrutiny than a corporation that could bust with a turn of the market against their favor. idk tho, could be something that we've just been slow to adapt to since globalization of that scale is somewhat of a recent phenomenon
I don't think power and authority are so different; large multinationals can effectively bully around smaller countries without the expertise or resources to combat them, and it's naive to expect that corporations will not abuse their powers. There are many historical instances of corporations engaging in human rights abuses outside of the state, such as the Dutch VOC in Indonesia, the British East India Company in India, the banana republics run by US fruit companies, the diamond business, among many others.