SOCIAL & RACIAL 
JUSTICE

2020 marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and liberation of concentration camps across Europe. In April, 60 Minutes featured an interview between correspondent Lesley Stahl and Holocaust survivor Aaron Elster that was unlike any Stahl had done before: She was interviewing an artificially intelligent holographic recording of Elster created as part of a project to preserve our ability to converse with Holocaust survivors even after they die.

ViacomCBS International Studios began working on a new initiative in Brazil called “Narrativas Negras” (Black Narratives), a writers’ room with goals to create compelling, diverse and inclusive stories as part of ViacomCBS’s “No Diversity, No Commission” campaign.

MTV Beats, MTV India’s 24-hour Hindi music channel, released the country’s first-ever gender atypical album, Love Duet, which is inclusive of love between people other than a male and female.

We drove industry-led initiatives that mobilized record labels, broadcasters, radio stations and media houses with a campaign across our platforms in the region to address gender-based and xenophobic violence. The “STOP THE VIOLENCE” campaign in South Africa encouraged action to address xenophobic attacks, gender-based femicide and violence against children. In Nigeria, ViacomCBS Networks Africa extended the campaign to denounce the atrocious human rights violations that escalated in the country over the past year.

What You Know About That?! (WYKAT) is a crisp digital video format that features socio-political, socio-critical and pop-cultural topics. The aim is to explain complex topics like racism, queer phobia, classism, ableism, cultural appropriation and much more in a tangible and easy way. WYKAT is developed by MTV Germany and host and influencer Wana Limar who is working with a diverse team of video creators, journalists and experts to ensure representation.

ViacomCBS Networks UK, along with some of the biggest names in the media industry, sent an open letter to the UK government supporting trans people’s right to live and work uninhibited. The government delayed reforms that would have threatened the safety of the trans community after many other large organizations expressed solidarity. We will continue to remind the UK government that the vast majority of the population supports the trans community and reforms that make it easier for everyone to live authentically.

ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand announced its inaugural Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), cementing our commitment towards reconciliation with Australia’s First Peoples, as well as embedding positive cultural change. The program is centered on building meaningful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, organizations, networks and educational bodies.