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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.
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!
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.
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!
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-makersThese 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, P.S. But wait, there’s more! Here are some extra wins that YOU helped make happen—check them out:
California State Assembly: Vote Yes on the California Oppose Cruelty to Octopuses Act (OCTO), Ekō |
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