To be sure, survivors are not taking for granted the notion that a Democratic Congress would move such measures forward. But they have recognized that they might have some say about that.
“Survivors are powerful,” said Elisa Batista, the campaign director of UltraViolet, a gender equity nonprofit that worked with Giuffre’s brothers to organize a vigil for her. “We have the numbers. Please vote.”
After a campaign from feminist organizations including UltraViolet, Apple implemented new App Store restrictions on “nudify” apps that can generate nonconsensual intimate imagery. Now, Google must do the same on its Play Store.
Those concerns around Flock seem to be coming for retailers that have, until recently, used the company’s tech for the purpose of security and anti-theft measures with little public pushback. In September, the gender justice group Ultraviolet circulated a petition demanding that Ulta end its relationship with Flock; over 10,000 women had signed it as of last month, according to a press release from the group.
UltraViolet, a leading national women-led gender-justice organization responsible for numerous impactful victories against sexual predators and tech-facilitated sexual violence, issued the following statement in response to Apple updating its developer guidelines to ban AI “nudify” apps on its App Store, calling on Google to make the same changes in its Play Store immediately.
"This is a victory for survivors,” said Jenna Sherman, campaign director at UltraViolet, which is leading a petition for brand ambassadors to cut ties with the company.
“By allowing its users to gamble on the ‘Cornell 7’ case, Polymarket was essentially gamifying gang rape and profiting from the pain of courageous survivors like Jane Doe,” Sherman added in a statement.
The market drew immediate condemnation from advocacy organizations, including UltraViolet, which argued that allowing financial speculation on the outcome of a sexual assault investigation exploits trauma and undermines the justice system.
Campaigners directed their pressure beyond the platform itself, targeting high-profile athlete endorsers associated with Polymarket.
"Backlash began after a petition under the name “No Gambling on Gang Rape” made reference to celebrities like LeBron James, Emily Ratajkowski, Eli Manning and others who have promoted the online platform.
“As brand ambassadors profiting from your ties with the ‘predictive market’ (online gambling) platform Polymarket, you are also profiting from the heinous trend of betting on sexual assault cases,” the petition description read.
“Survivors deserve so much better than to have bets placed on whether or not they will win justice, not to mention the corrupt influence it could put on participating parties like jurors,” the petition added.
The petition called on the celebrities to “do the right thing by cutting all ties with Polymarket and denouncing the gross practice of betting on legal cases regarding sexual violence.”"
“This victory belongs to the courageous survivors of dangerous ‘nudify’ apps—especially children—and the advocates who demanded accountability. Apple’s new CEO, John Ternus, now has an opportunity to usher in a new era of leadership that puts the safety of women and children first,” said Jenna Sherman, Campaign Director at UltraViolet. “Apple's decision is an important step forward, and Google must follow suit immediately. But one policy change is not enough. Big Tech must do more to stop enabling and profiting from the creation and spread of AI-facilitated sexual abuse.”
Online critics characterized the Polymarket contract as degrading and questioned why celebrity ambassadors would associate themselves with the company. An online petition launched by UltraViolet, a women-led national advocacy organization, singled out James, Manning, Daddario and model Emily Ratajkowski while calling on other famous endorsers to cut ties with the company.
Polymarket, at first, said nothing about this. A quick search on Instagram shows a lot of people and organizations were talking about this for days—at times even tagging Polymarket in their posts—but the global company with an estimated $1 billion in annualized revenue said nothing.
Polymarket caved to backlash and removed a bet that allowed gamblers to wager on whether seven Cornell University fraternity members accused in a gang-rape lawsuit will face felony sex-crime charges.
The company took down the wager after activists demanded that LeBron James and other celebrity endorsers cut ties with the prediction-market platform More than $450,000 had been traded on the wager as of Monday afternoon as authorities revisited allegations that a female student was drugged and sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in 2024.
While the market was still live, feminist group UltraViolet created a petition calling for all ambassadors to cut ties with Polymarket and denounce “the gross practice of betting on legal cases regarding sexual violence.”
“Not only is the existence of these bets morally reprehensible and a slap in the face to survivors everywhere, it also raises serious concerns about how these so-called ‘markets’ could actually obscure justice,” the group stated.
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