Avaaz Foundation

The group is member-funded, relying on small donations from its members, ² the highest percentage of whom are based in Brazil and France. ³ Its campaigns have advocated for a variety of left-of-center issues such as promoting COVID-19 lockdown policies, supporting bans on conventional energy, endorsing using critical race theory to address race and social issues, and backing content moderation policies, and it advocates for censoring speech that opposes its positions by advocating for censorship of “harmful content” and alleged disinformation. ⁴

Avaaz advocates for global adoption of the European Union Digital Services Act (DSA) and strict censorship of online platforms, using the DSA as a model for structuring policies. ⁵ After the passing of the DSA in 2022, Avaaz’s disinformation campaign reported that its support for the legislation was the “most impactful” thing it had ever done. It championed the bill for requiring the censorship of disinformation, hate speech, and what is otherwise deemed to be “harmful content.” In its campaigns supporting the DSA before its passage, Avaaz conducted research into the prevalence of alleged disinformation and harmful content on various social media platforms to argue countries should require platforms to censor all instances of harmful content and disinformation. ⁶

Background

Avaaz Foundation was co-founded in 2007 by liberal online activist groups Res Publica and Moveon.org, along with Ricken Patel, former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA), Tom Pravda, Eli Pariser, Andrea Woodhouse, Jeremy Heimans, and David Madden. ³

Avaaz organizes media campaigns, email and phone banking campaigns, lobbying efforts, protests, and petitions to promote left-of-center advocacy efforts across six continents and through 17 different languages. It has reported that it uses its member-created petitions and polls to set campaign priorities, but left-of-center activists have criticized Avaaz for dictating its own advocacy priorities. ^{7 8}

As of May 2026, Avaaz’s campaign landing page on its website had listed 21 investigative reports that it conducted and published to support its campaigns. All 21 of its investigative reports are focused on how a lack of content moderation and censorship by online platforms could be blamed for a lack of trust in COVID-19 vaccines, for disbelief in the idea that conventional energy use and human activities are causing climate change or global warming, for the promotion of content scrutinizing election results, for dissent from the ideals of the Black Lives Matter movement, for dissent against COVID-19 lockdown policies, and for the existence of allegedly harmful content or “disinformation.” All reports conclude that the European Union should more strictly enforce the Digital Services Act, that countries outside of the EU should adopt DSA-like policies, and that online platforms should be pressured to adopt stringent internal censorship policies. ⁴

As of May 2026, Avaaz reported having 69.3 million members who had supported 2,792 campaigns or petitions. ⁷

Campaigns

Avaaz uses online campaigns to advocate and mobilize for progressive issues, which include environmentalism, human rights, Palestinian statehood, and censorship, among many others. Avaaz claims that its priorities are redefined annually, based on a poll results from its members. ² These polls are created by Avaaz staff, based on member suggestions, but may be phrased in a way that favors Avaaz’s own interests.

As of May 2026, Avaaz’s highlighted campaigns included support for conventional energy bans, internet censorship and regulating online platforms, conservation efforts, regulating pesticide and fertilizer companies, open-border policies, and opposition to Rupert Murdoch’s media companies. ⁹

Avaaz uses the European Union Digital Services Act as a basis point for its campaigns that advocate for censorship policies and for campaigns that advocate for online platforms to incorporate censorship policies into their algorithms. ^{10 11}

The DSA was passed by the European Parliament in June 2022 and Avaaz advocates for governments outside of the EU and online platforms not subjected to the jurisdiction to adopt the same policies. ⁵

Avaaz promotes the DSA’s provisions that require online platforms to conduct risk assessment and mitigation of content that Avaaz believes is capable of causing damage to “individual human rights and negatively impact society,” more commonly referred to as harmful speech. The DSA also requires censorship of “misinformation,” which can include content deemed deceptive or otherwise promoting content believed to be untrue. Platforms that fail to comply with the DSA’s censorship policies are subjected to bans and fines. ⁵

In October 2021, Avaaz published a report that it has used as an example of how social media algorithms can promote harmful content that its campaigns use to support their advocacy for censorship policies. ⁵

The report published findings on how Instagram exposed a profile to what it deemed as “potentially harmful and triggering” content related to eating disorders after it made a test profile that searched for the term anorexia. The content it claimed was harmful included content that had the phrases: “current weight, goal weight,” “trigger warning,” and “ultimate goal weight.” It claimed that such examples of harmful content being promoted can lead to such harm, and in response, it advocated for Instagram and other social media companies to re-evaluate their algorithm’s content moderation. It also used the report to campaign in support of passing the DSA. ¹²

Campaigns active in April 2020 include one demanding that Facebook should issue public corrections to supposed “fake news” and stating that “[d]isinformation like this has the power to turn protests violent, destroy trust in our democracies and make us hate, even kill each other.” ¹³ Another campaign to “Protect Half our Planet” fatalistically announces in all bold that “every insect on the planet is on track to be wiped out” and seeks 2.5 million signatures. ¹⁴

The “Save the World Health Organization” campaign condemned President Donald Trump before simply declaring “It’s sickening.” This campaign goes on to threaten that without this petition being supported, in bold, “tens of thousands of people could die,” and aimed to acquire 1.5 million signatures.” ¹⁵

Reports

In February 2023, Avaaz Foundation published a report analyzing social media companies’ compliance with the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), requiring online platforms to censor content deemed to be disinformation. The report evaluated and scrutinized social media platforms for compliance with the DSA and for the efficacy of their censorship. The report concluded that most prominent social media platforms fall short of complying with the DSA and censoring so-called disinformation overall and advocated for systemic censorship processes within the platforms. ¹⁰

In January 2022, Avaaz published a report titled “Scientists Under Attack,” claiming that scientists promoting restrictions in response to COVID-19 were subjected to violence due to alleged “disinformation” on social media. That report claimed that real-world violence over COVID-19 was caused by persons exposed to alleged disinformation online that led them to attack proponents of COVID-19 restrictions. It specified that former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head Anthony Fauci, alongside other scientists, were subjected to death threats and named conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson as an example of a publisher of “problematic” content related to the pandemic. In response to these allegations, the report advocated for additional regulations under the DSA to establish more stringent guidelines for what counts as so-called disinformation and for requirements for how online platform algorithms censors it. ¹¹

In December 2021, Avaaz published a report titled, “Meta-Denial: How Facebook Fails to Keep Up with the Evolving Tactics of Today’s Climate Misinformers.” The report claimed that right-of-center reporting on climate change on Facebook was “misinformation” for disputing that humans were causing climate change or that global warming was an existential threat. It listed PragerU, Turning Point USA, John Stossel, Bjorn Lomborg, and Alan Jones as the “top 5 emitters of climate misinformation on Facebook” and based the assessment on their prominence and disputes of the existence of human-caused global warming.  ¹⁶

Avaaz used the December 2021 report to support the idea that Facebook and other online platforms should drastically increase its content moderation policies and activities to more thoroughly censor views that oppose the idea that humans are causing global warming and consequently causing climate change. ¹⁶

“Facebook: From Election to Insurrection” is a report published by Avaaz in March 2021 that accused Facebook of being responsible for the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol. It argued that by declining to censor content, Facebook users were motivated to engage in insurrection and promoted censorship policies in the name of ideals of democracy. The content the report outlined included claims that there was evidence of voter fraud, content that promoted militias, and content that contained other alleged conspiracy theories. In response, it advocated for the Biden administration to appoint a senior-level official to the National Security Council and create a “multiagency digital democracy task force” to identify and “expose” alleged foreign and “non-state” propaganda and alleged disinformation. ¹⁷

Avaaz devotes part of its website to a page with its press releases, which includes “reports” based on Avaaz’s own investigations. Avaaz’s 2020 reports included a claim that YouTube is “promoting climate denial to millions,” “misinformation from the US” is causing an anti-vaccine epidemic in Brazil, and that Facebook has over 150 million views of what Avaaz is calling a “political fake news problem.”  ¹⁸

Funding

Avaaz Foundation has self-reportedly been “member-funded” since 2009, relying on individual online donations, and claims that it “simply [doesn’t] accept funds from governments or corporations.” ² Before 2009, Avaaz was funded by contributions from various foundations. ¹⁹

Avaaz’s 2024 tax return showed that it had $26 million in total revenue, including $25.7 million in direct contributions and no membership dues. ²⁰ The returns Supplement Information schedule noted that it received $317,710.84 from 38 donors across 14 countries where the highest donor contributed $33,431.75. In the same line, it stated “Avaaz does not allow single donations of more than 5,000 USD/EUR/GBP.” ²¹

In 2018, Avaaz reported nearly $26 million in contributions on its federal nonprofit tax return. Because Avaaz is set up as a social-welfare group, donations are not tax deductible. ²²

Political Donations

In 2017, Avaaz Foundation contributed $380,000 to co-founder Tom Perriello’s unsuccessful campaign for governor of Virginia and $5,000 to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.  ²³

The Center for Responsive Politics reported that Avaaz made $519,117 in independent expenditures against Donald Trump’s 2016 Presidential Campaign. ²⁴

In 2023, Avaaz spent $97,241 on political consultants to lobby against proposed legislation that would restrict abortion and contraceptive access. ²⁵

In 2024, Avaaz spent $186,983 on voter mobilization efforts in France, Spain, Germany, and Belgium. ²⁶

People

As of May 2026, Andrew (Bert) Wander was the CEO of Avaaz Foundation after assuming the role in October 2020 and previously working as a campaign director for Avaaz. ^{27 28 29}

Wander has previously worked as a media manager and head of news for Save the Children UK, producer for Al Jazeera, producer for Reprieve UK, and as a reporter for the Daily Star in Beirut, Lebanon. ³⁰

Alice Jay is a former campaign director for Avaaz, and previously worked for the United Nations and other international charities. ³¹

Andrea Woodhouse is a co-founder of Avaaz and as of may 2026, was a senior social development specialist for the World Bank and formerly served as a consultant to the United Nations. ³²

Andrew Slack worked as a senior advisor at Avaaz from 2018 to 2024, and formerly was a fellow with the left-of-center groups Civic Hall and New Leaders Council (NLC). ¹⁵  As of May 2026, he was a fellow for Ashoka and as the founder of Imagine Better Stories. ³³

Dalia Hashad was a campaign director for Avaaz from 2011-2018. Hashad is a former director of the USA Program for Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), a former advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and a former co-host and co-executive producer of Law and Disorder Radio. ³⁴

Daniel Auron was a campaign director for Avaaz from 2014-2019. Auron is a former consultant at the United Nations and former program officer at the NYU Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. ³⁵

David Madden is a co-founder of Avaaz, a co-founder of Purpose, and a co-founder of GetUp!. He previously was founder and board chair or Phandeeyar: Myanmar Innovation Lab, senior director for Luminate, and as a senior advisor for the Omidyar Network. ³⁶

Emma Ruby-Sachs was deputy director of Avaaz from 2010 to 2019. After Avaaz, Ruby-Sachs began working as the executive director of Eko, formerly SumofUs. ^{37 38}

Heather Reddick was the board secretary of Avaaz until 2022 after working as a data protection officer, chief operating officer, and operations director for Avaaz. Before Avaaz, Reddick was an international operations director of Students for a Free Tibet, and the former national operations director of the League of Young Voters. After Avaaz, she began working as an independent nonrpfit consultant, and as of May 2026, she was serving as the chief operating officer of the Movement Voter Project. ³⁹

Iain Keith was a campaign director for Avaaz from 2013 through 2019, after serving as a senior campaigner and global campaigner, starting in 2006. From 2020 to 2026, Keith worked as the executive director of the Climate Emergency Coalition Group (CECG), a financially sponsored project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA). As of May 2026, Keith was service as the CEO of the Climate Emergency Coalition Group. ⁴⁰

Jeremy Heimans was a co-founder of Avaaz, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Purpose, and the founder of GetUp! He was chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Civic Participation. ⁴¹

Natalia Biro, formerly known as Nataliya (Natasha) Rovenskaya, worked as global campaigns and tech lead at Avaaz from 2014 until 2024. Rovenskaya formerly worked as the Russia program coordinator for the Ford Foundation. ⁴²

As of 2023, Oscar Soria is a campaign director for Avaaz. Soria is a former director of media for WWF International, a former brand manager for Greenpeace, and former campaign advisor for Amnesty International. ⁴³

Avaaz cofounder Ricken Patel worked as president and CEO of Avaaz until 2020. Patel formerly worked for the International Crisis Group, the International Center for Transitional Justice, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Res Publica. Patel has been named a “Peace Leader” by the Simons Foundation, was voted “Ultimate Gamechanger in Politics” in 2009 by the left-leaning Huffington Post, and is a Principal Signatory of Global Zero. ⁴⁴ Patel sits on the board of Namati ⁴⁵ and the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) Advisory Council,⁴⁶ and formerly sat on the advisory board of J Street. ⁴⁷

Avaaz co-founder Tom Perriello is a Democratic politician, former U.S. Representative, Obama administration State Department official, unsuccessful candidate for governor of Virginia, and Open Society Foundations officer.  ⁴⁸

Tom Pravda is a co-founder of Avaaz and Res Publica, a former advisor for the U.S. Department of State, and former consultant for the United Nations. He also was board president of Avaaz from 2021 to 2023, and as of May 2026, Pravda was the principal of Climate Hub. ⁴⁹

According to tax filings, between 2016 and 2020 Ian Bassin, the founder and executive director of the Protect Democracy Project (PDP), worked as a coordinator for Avaaz. ^{50 51}