In Europe this analogy has also been used by politicians (ones that are actually sitting in parliaments and not accused of crimes).

I'd also consider it a form of peaceful protest. Well, actually it's just data, nobody gets physically harmed so it's always peaceful. Anyways, you are not stealing data and you are not permanently harming the system. You basically do something the site is made for (serving requests). If you consider that a crime you could also consider telling a huge people to phone a company and complain about something a crime. I mean this certainly leads to a denial of service, because it makes it virtually impossible for others to use that service.

I for myself am a bit lazy for these kinds of protests. I actually prefer informing people so they draw their own conclusion, but I would never call something like that a crime. IMO it should be treated like a freedom. I know this can cause financial damage, but it's still not harming people. I mean every news article, every kind of information and just saying something like "Nike is child slavery" or "fast food from McDonalds is unhealthy" can make people not buy stuff there and therefore cause financial damage. In first place it's about an institution and we shouldn't consider an institution something that has human rights, because it devalues natural people.

The way I look at it is like having 100 of your friends all go to McDonalds and line up. One at a time you order a glass of water, and then go to the back of the line. Honest customers will enter and get in line. If they wait/keep trying for long enough they'll be able to fulfill a request but most will get fed up and quit trying.