Jenna Sherman, a campaign director at the advocacy group UltraViolet, said, “Opt-out models are not consent.” She argued that warning sounds can be missed in places such as parties, concerts and children’s playrooms, leaving bystanders to monitor devices they don’t own.
“Opt-out models are not consent,” Jenna Sherman, a campaign director for the advocacy group UltraViolet, which focuses on the impacts of consumer tech on gendered and sexual violence, told The Verge. “Being given the option to opt out rather than choosing actively to opt in are very different. One requires a person to be informed and to be enthusiastically and intentionally choosing something, and the other is passive and doesn’t actually place any power into the consumer’s hand. This decision is being made by the companies, and the consumer is being forced to adapt to that decision, and the default model is that you will be subjected to that surveillance.”
Sherman notes that companies are likely well aware of the fact that many people will find it difficult or impossible to truly opt out when always-listening and always-watching devices become ubiquitous. “Not everyone sees the recording light, not everyone hears whatever warning sound is playing on a watch, especially if you’re at a party or a concert, or if you’re a parent at a children’s playroom,” said Sherman.
"In a few years, we hope this digital reality we live in, in which any person can be sexually deepfaked online without recourse, will seem unfathomable; we’re putting out this letter to make sure that vision becomes reality,” said Jenna Sherman, campaign director at UltraViolet.
The presence of Model Alliance and SOAR, alongside organizations like World Without Exploitation, Polaris Project, Rights4Girls, UltraViolet, NOW and Women’s March, underscored the growing movement to confront not just individual harms caused by Epstein and his associates, but the institutions, systems and decades-long inaction or incomplete action by law enforcement that enabled it.
Addressing the crowd in Washington, Arisha Hatch, executive director of social justice lobby group UltraViolet, said the group would launch a new initiative, the Epstein Accountability Project, in coming days, likely during the King’s visit.
Saturday’s event was co-hosted by the Women's March, UltraViolet, World Without Exploitation, NOW, the National Women's Law Center, FEMINIST, Feminist Generation and Time's Up Legal Defense Fund.
"Ahead of the Friday vote, Elisa Batista, the Campaign Director of UltraViolet Action, a national women-led gender-justice organization, made it clear it was the group’s belief that Wasserman did not “deserve” to stay on as LA28 Organizing Chairman.
“This vote is just the latest example of Angelenos speaking out, loud and clear, against sexual violence and rape culture,” Batista said Friday. “We do not want someone affiliated with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell representing the city of Los Angeles, let alone the entire country, on one of the world’s largest stages.”
"“This vote is just the latest example of Angelenos speaking out, loud and clear, against sexual violence and rape culture,” said Elisa Batista, Campaign Director at UltraViolet Action, a leading national women-led gender-justice organization. “We do not want someone affiliated with the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell representing the City of Los Angeles, let alone the entire country, on one of the world’s largest stages.”
“The leadership of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics should be free from any association with individuals connected to a child sexual abuse and trafficking operation—both morally and practically, given how critical these games are to Los Angeles and the entire country,” said Batista.
“Holding a position like Olympic Chairman is a privilege, not a right, and Wasserman does not deserve that right,” Batista continued. “Any excuses for keeping Casey Wasserman on the board are empty and a slap in the face to survivors everywhere.”"
Elisa Batista, campaign director at the advocacy group UltraViolet Action, said in a statement Tuesday that we are in solidarity with the courageous survivors showing up in defiance of Trump’s attempts to change the conversation at the State of the Union tonight.“
“It reminds us that we, too, have the power to fight back,” UltraViolet campaign director Elisa Batista.
National gender-justice organization UltraViolet echoes calls from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass to remove the chairman over Epstein ties.
“As millions of Americans and thousands of Epstein survivors continue to demand the full release of the Epstein files, Trump and his abuser buddies have instead chosen to release a vanity project wanted by no one,” said Elisa Batista of survivor advocacy group UltraViolet Action
We’re launching a nationwide effort to hold the powerful people connected to Jeffrey Epstein’s network of abuse accountable. From rapid-response campaigns to high-visibility public actions, we’re making sure the 1,000+ survivors’ calls for justice are heard — not ignored. Give today to help keep the pressure on.