John,

I'm thrilled to share some incredible victories with you—wins that YOU
helped make possible!

Together, we’ve taken bold action on the most pressing and high-stakes
issues of our time, and the impact we’re making is nothing short of
extraordinary.

Let’s dive into some of what we’ve achieved recently…

Exposing WhatsApp’s illegal data harvesting: we’re making tech giants rethink
privacy.

[1]Photo of a city street at night, with a brick building on which a
projected image of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and the Brazil flag are
visible, with the text 'Meta is destroying Brazilian democracy'

For years, tech giants like Meta have been getting away with exploiting
our data, but thanks to Ekō members, we’ve been fighting back—and winning!

First we pushed Brazil’s data protection authority to take a tougher
stance on Meta, getting them to slam the brakes on the company’s
controversial plan to use public user data to train AI models. This was a
huge blow for Meta.

Second, together with partners our efforts led to the biggest data
protection lawsuit in Brazil’s history. It all kicked off in 2021, when
over 210,000 Ekō members raised our collective voices against WhatsApp’s
anti-privacy policy, which tried to bully people to share their personal
data or lose access to the app. Thanks to the pressure from our community,
Brazilian authorities blocked the policy rollout, and eventually Meta
abandoned their global plans.

But we didn’t stop there! We’ve been teaming up with Brazil's consumer
protection watchdog, IDEC, to hold Meta accountable for its shady data
practices. Our efforts led to a landmark lawsuit suing WhatsApp for
breaching consumer protection and digital rights laws. If successful, the
case will give Brazilian users control over the sharing of their personal
data.

And guess what? The lawsuit is gaining serious momentum – Ekō is hitting
the headlines in major outlets like Forbes, Folha de S. Paulo, and TV
Cultura Night News, leaving Meta scrambling to respond!

The lawsuit is already having an impact beyond Brazil, pushing data
authorities in other countries to take action and disrupting Meta's
business model of harvesting personal data for ads, which fuels the spread
of disinformation and hate speech. Even the EU is cracking down on Meta’s
data misuse!  

Together, we’re showing that we can hold the biggest tech companies
accountable. Stay tuned—this fight is only getting started...a global
reckoning is coming.

Saving California’s water: we’re shutting down corporate water grabbing!

[2]Photo of Ekō campaigner holding a box marked '85000 demand Kick
BlueTriton Out Of National Forest', standing beside an official outside a
Forest Service building

Corporations drain millions of gallons of water from fragile ecosystems
worldwide, leaving already drought-stricken communities even worse off.
But thanks to Ekō members, we’re fighting back and making waves (pun
intended :) ).

We just secured a huge victory: Ekō and our partners stopped BlueTriton
(formerly Nestlé Waters) from draining over 50 million gallons of water
each year from California’s San Bernardino National Forest.

To win this fight, we launched a three-month digital ad blitz, with
thousands of Ekō members flooding the California Water Board with emails
and calls. We then delivered over 85,000 of your petition signatures to
the U.S. Forest Service, making it clear: we wouldn’t back down.

The result? The U.S. Forest Service shut down BlueTriton’s permit,
ordering the company to stop draining water, cut off their pipelines, and
start pulling their equipment out of the forest!

This isn’t a one-off win—it’s part of Ekō’s larger campaign to hold
corporations accountable for privatizing and stealing water. And we’re not
stopping here. We’ll keep the pressure on to ensure Blue Triton follows
through—and continue fighting to protect our planet’s most precious
resources.

Human Rights: we’ve forced AXA to divest from *ALL* Israeli banks complicit in
war crimes.

[3]Photo of protesters with signs and a Palestine flag outside AXA's
headquarters in Paris, holding protest signs. A police officer is standing
nearby.

It’s official: AXA has fully divested from Israeli banks connected to war
crimes and violations of Palestinian rights—and it’s all thanks to the
unwavering efforts of brave activists worldwide and Ekō members like us!
We’ve spent years pushing AXA to cut ties with companies profiting from
Israeli apartheid, and now we’re seeing the results.

Our new report reveals that, as of last year, AXA still had $20 million
tied up in three problematic Israeli banks: Bank Hapoalim, Israel Discount
Bank, and Bank Leumi. But thanks to relentless pressure from Ekō members
and the global Stop AXA Assistance to Israeli Apartheid coalition, AXA now
has completely divested from *all three* banks!

This win didn’t happen overnight. We’ve been campaigning on this for
years. Back in 2018, Ekō exposed AXA’s investments in Israel’s largest
weapons manufacturer and five major Israeli banks that funded illegal
settlements. That pressure led to some early divestments, but the fight
continued.

This year, over 175,000 of you signed a petition calling for AXA to fully
divest. We ramped up the pressure with a protest outside AXA’s London
headquarters and took the fight to their Annual General Meeting in April.
On the same day, Ekō partners delivered petitions to AXA offices in
Belgium, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, amplifying the pressure globally.

This victory shows that sustained corporate pressure works! We can make
powerful companies like AXA stop profiting from human rights abuses -- and
we'll keep up the fight to stop corporate backing of the oppression of
Palestinians.

Banning octopus farming: together, we’re setting a global precedent!

[4]Photo of woman with a megaphone, wearing a black Eko t-shirt,
protesters with purple octopus farm ban banners are in the background.

Drumroll, please! Thanks to YOU—our incredible Ekō community—we’ve helped
achieve a massive victory in the fight to protect octopuses from cruel
farming practices! Last year, our petition opposing the world’s first
octopus megafarm off the coast of Gran Canaria went viral, with over half
a million Ekō members joining the cause and igniting a firestorm on social
media. And now we’re making history again as California Governor Gavin
Newsom signed the California Oppose Cruelty to Octopuses (OCTO) Act into
law on September 27th!

California is the first state to ban both octopus farming and the sale of
farmed octopus. This victory not only safeguards octopuses in California,
but also sets a powerful global precedent, striking a blow against the
commercialized farming of these intelligent creatures and sparing millions
from cruel deaths.

We didn’t get here alone. Our 81.5K-strong petition urging California to
act powered the campaign that pushed this bill through the legislature.
When things got tough in the Senate Appropriations Committee, we ramped up
the pressure with our partners, delivering your voices directly to
decision-makers. The result? A unanimous YES vote on the Senate floor!

Thanks to your generous donations, we also ran critical ads in key media
outlets, grabbing the attention of legislators and securing crucial press
coverage when we needed it most.

Ekō members: you are the change-makers

These wins belong to you, Ekō's members. Every signature, every share,
every moment you spend supporting our campaigns is a step toward a better
world.

Thank you for being a vital part of this journey. We’re just getting
started, and there’s so much more we’ll accomplish together.



With deep appreciation,
Deborah and the team at Ekō


P.S. But wait, there’s more! Here are some extra wins that YOU helped make
happen—check them out:

* YouTube shuts down climate disinfo: After pressure from Ekō members
and our groundbreaking report, YouTube demonetized the Heartland
Institute, a notorious climate skeptic group spreading disinformation.
By exposing how YouTube was profiting from this channel by placing ads
from dozens of major brands next to this content, we made sure YouTube
took action!

* Chiquita is finally being held accountable: With your generous
support, we partnered with International Rights Advocates on strategic
litigation to seek justice for families of those murdered by far-right
militias funded by banana giant Chiquita—and won! The court ordered
Chiquita to compensate these families, a major step toward justice and
a precedent for holding U.S. companies accountable for their actions
abroad. (Though Chiquita is appealing—surprise, surprise—we’re not
backing down!)

* Uplifting Palestinian athletes: In the run-up to the Olympics,
hundreds of thousands of Ekō members united to demand Israel’s ban
from international sports, amplifying the voices of Palestinian
athletes like Karam and Saher. By sharing their stories and tagging
FIFA committee members, you created a viral storm that couldn’t be
ignored. Our collective pressure was clearly felt—FIFA delayed its
hearing twice! This fight is far from over, so stay tuned for next
steps.

More information:

[ [link removed] ]California State Assembly: Vote Yes on the California Oppose Cruelty to
Octopuses Act (OCTO), Ekō
[ [link removed] ]Meta Hit by Largest Data Protection Lawsuit in Brazilian History, Ekō,
Press Release, San Francisco, 17 July 2024.
[ [link removed] ]French Insurance Giant AXA Rapidly Divests $20 Million from Israeli
Banks in Response to Public Pressure, Ekō, 21 August 2024
[ [link removed] ]Fuelling the Flames: YouTube monetizes climate disinformation, Ekō
Report

 

 

Ekō is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Please help keep Ekō strong by chipping in $3. [link removed]