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Russias invasion of Ukraine has resulted in even stricter censorship and control of Russian religious communities, other public organizations, media outlets, and individuals whether by means of prosecution for the newly created offenses of discrediting the Armed Forces or disseminating false information about them, or pressure from state authorities and religious hierarchies not to condemn or discuss the war.

Lutheran Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, who has left Russia for Germany, said that, at the start of the war, President Vladimir Putins administration made a clear demand of religious leaders to speak out in favor of the invasion.

A pastor in a different Protestant church described to Forum 18 how FSB security service officers visited clergy to warn them not to say anything critical in sermons or on social media.

Several religious organizations have apparently voluntarily endorsed the invasion, particularly the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Its leader Patriarch Kirill has long advocated the concept of Russky Mir (the Russian World), which holds that Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus all constitute a single spiritual and cultural space in opposition to the liberal and secular West.

In his Sunday sermon on March 6, Patriarch Kirill claimed that Russia was protecting the Donbas from outside pressure to abide by liberal values, especially as expressed in gay pride parades, arguing that this indicates that we have entered into a struggle that has not a physical, but a metaphysical significance. Pope Francis stated on May 3 that the Patriarch had spent much of a video call on March 16 reading out all the reasons that justify the Russian invasion.

Despite this official support for the war, several Moscow Patriarchate priests have resigned from their jobs and in some cases, left the country after their opposition to the war brought them into conflict with their dioceses.

Father Nikolay Platonov, for example, posted a YouTube video criticizing Patriarch Kirill for having justified in fact, blessed military action in Ukraine, and dismissing the Patriarchs argument about gay parades in the Donbas as ridiculous. He also notes the pressure his diocese has put on parishes to collect donations for the Russian army in Ukraine: No one asked the priests opinion. All those who disagree are being identified they will smear everyone. Nobody will be left out. Referring to President Putin, Father Nikolay concludes: I say this to those who can still see and hear, who still have a conscience. Run, run. A crazy subhuman is in power, who will retain power at any cost. On the altar of his vanity, he will lay thousands and hundreds of thousands of people your children, the children of a neighboring state.

People protesting against the war on the basis of their faith continue to be detained and prosecuted. On May 8, police in St. Petersburg detained Nikita Rezyukov outside Kazan Cathedral and charged him under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) for a placard with a quote from the Psalms: Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. Police did not respond to Forum 18s questions as to why they detained him for holding a placard with a Biblical quotation.

Russias media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, also regularly blocks websites with information about the war. Blocked material includes a Belarusian news report on the destruction of Ukrainian religious buildings, and a Ukrainian Protestant pastors appeal to fellow clergy in Russia speak out against the invasion. Roskomnadzor did not respond to Forum 18s inquiry as to why it blocks such material.

Small numbers of clergy and laypeople continue to protest against the war in Ukraine from an explicitly religious standpoint. Those who protest against the war are often punished under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation).

Courts have fined two Russian Orthodox priests and a Baptist preacher for discrediting the armed forces online or in sermons or conversations. Several people have been detained and some charged for using Biblical quotations or religious imagery in individual public protests.

Such public protests continued over the Victory Day May holiday weekend:

May 7, Khabarovsk: police detained local activist Nikolay Zodchy and charged him under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1 for a placard reading Russian! Conquer the vatnik in yourself! (Vatnik is slang for an unquestioning, jingoistic nationalist; Zodchys placard used a Latin letter V in reference to the pro-war V and Z symbols which have become popular signs of support for Russias war in Ukraine.)

Zodchy also gave a speech to onlookers, footage of which was posted on the Sotavision YouTube channel:

Those who ask, where have you been for the last eight years, I want to ask, where are you now? Why are you crying for the children of the Donbas and not for the children of Ukraine? .. [To] many of you who are Orthodox and observe Christian holidays, why do you put above all else the principle of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, although Jesus Christ taught that it is necessary to love your neighbor and love your enemy? After all, Ukrainians are not our enemies. This enmity exists only in the heads of Russians it was sown there by Putin. Ukrainians are our brothers in both the ethnic and the Christian sense therefore, to those who write that I should go to the Donbas, you should go to Mariupol, Kharkiv, Bucha, and other towns and see for yourself what the so-called Russian World has done there.

May 8, St Petersburg: police detained Nikita Rezyukov outside Kazan Cathedral and charged him under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3, Part 1 for a placard reading Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it, The Bible, Psalm 33:15 [as numbered in the Russian Synodal Translation] #NoToWar.

Forum 18 wrote to the St. Petersburg and Leningrad Region Interior Ministry and the St Petersburg City Prosecutors Office on May 12, asking why Rezyukov had been detained for quoting the Bible and why this was considered grounds for prosecution under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3. Forum 18 received no reply by the middle of the working day of May 13.

According to human rights news agency OVD-Info, as of May 13 more than 15,000 people have been detained (usually for a few hours or overnight) for participating in anti-war protests. These have included both large-scale demonstrations and individual actions such as wearing Ukrainian colors or displaying anti-war posters and placards (including those which have directly quoted from the Russian constitution or even President Putins own speeches).

As of May 5, also according to OVD-Info, from Feb. 24 police had initiated at least 1,731 cases across Russia and in illegally Russian-occupied Crimea under Administrative Code Article 20.3.3 (Public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) for making anti-war statements either in public spaces or online.

By April 28, 39 people had been charged or placed under investigation under various parts of Criminal Code Article 207.3 (Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation), according to OVD-Info.

So far, Criminal Code Article 207.3 is known to have been used against only one person for explicitly religious opposition to the war Nina Belyayeva, a Protestant and Communist municipal deputy in Voronezh Region. During a meeting of Semiluk District Council, she called Russias invasion a war crime. She later wrote: I realized that if I kept silent, I would not be able to respect myself. I wouldnt be a true Christian and human being. She fled Russia in early April.

Father Nikolay Platonov, a parish priest from Chelyabinsk Metropolitanate (Moscow Patriarchate), requested in early April to be made supernumerary (pochislit za shtat, meaning that he remains a priest but is not formally employed in a parish, cathedral, or other institution) because, as he said in a video explaining his decision, I cant be silent any longer, and because After [this video], our church hierarchy will inevitably want to get rid of me with some shameful [legal] article. When a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church starts to speak the truth, he immediately automatically becomes a pedophile, or a thief, or a drug addict.

Metropolitan Aleksey of Chelyabinsk and Miass granted his request on April 8, according to a letter Father Nikolay holds up to the camera.

In the video, posted on his YouTube channel on April 16, he criticizes Patriarch Kirill for having justified in fact, blessed military action in Ukraine, and dismisses the Patriarchs argument about gay parades in the Donbas as ridiculous. He also notes the pressure his diocese has put on parishes to collect donations for the Russian army in Ukraine: No one asked the priests opinion. All those who disagree are being identified they will smear everyone. Nobody will be left out.

Referring to President Putin, Father Nikolay concludes: I say this to those who can still see and hear, who still have a conscience. Run, run. A crazy subhuman is in power, who will retain power at any cost. On the altar of his vanity, he will lay thousands and hundreds of thousands of people your children, the children of a neighboring state.

Father Nikolay was among nearly 300 Russian Orthodox priests to sign an open letter calling for reconciliation and an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. The letter criticized the suppression of protests against the war, and stated that we believe that the people of Ukraine should make their choice on their own, not at gunpoint, without pressure from West or East.

Another priest who signed the open letter, Father Sergey Titkov, also requested to be made supernumerary (pochislit za shtat) on March 30 for health reasons, according to his letter to Ryazan Diocese, which he posted on his Facebook and VKontakte pages.

A letter from Metropolitan Mark of Ryazan and Mikhailov, dated March 29 and also posted on Father Sergeys social media, stated that people who had attended the Church of the Intercession in the village of Turlatovo had informed diocesan authorities that Father Sergey was not reading the Prayer for the Restoration of Peace during services, a fact confirmed by the priest himself at a meeting with the diocesan secretary. The Metropolitan demanded that Father Sergey provide a written explanation by April 4 of his non-fulfilment of the blessing of the Holy Patriarch, who calls on faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church to offer this prayer at every service.

(Patriarch Kirill issued the Prayer for the Restoration of Peace on March 3 to be read in all churches during the Divine Liturgy, including in Moscow Patriarchate churches in Ukraine. The prayer in Church Slavonic refers to the peoples of Holy Russia, who come from a single font of baptism under Holy Prince Vladimir [of Kyiv, who brought Christianity to Rus] and asks that God establish in their hearts the spirit of brotherly love and peace and thwart the intentions of foreigners who want to take up arms against Holy Russia.)

In another letter of March 30, Metropolitan Mark also demands a written explanation within ten days of Father Sergeys posts on his VKontakte page. Such posts included reposts of articles condemning the war in Ukraine from ahilla.ru a website critical of the Moscow Patriarchate and reposts of a political character (particularly one allegedly comparing President Putin to Hitler and another containing swear words).

At present, the Metropolitan remarked, it seems appropriate not to confuse the minds of people who are already in a state of depression, strong feelings, [and] mental pain, but on the contrary, as far as possible, share with them spiritual warmth, [and] console and support [them]. It is impossible now to make assessments of what is happening, because they will not be correct.

Whether there was pressure on the bishop from the authorities, I dont know, Father Sergey told Forum 18 on May 7. Had he not stepped down as he did, he believes the diocese would have transferred him to another church where the senior priest would report to the bishop on his conduct, that I didnt read the new Prayer for Peace, and so on, or to live in some monastery as a reader, which I would have refused. That is, they would have rattled my nerves, and other peoples, and it would all have ended the same way. I wanted it over as soon as possible, and not to have it turn into a circus.

In 2019, Father Sergey was also among Russian Orthodox (Moscow Patriarchate) priests who signed an open letter in defence of people arrested during protests in Moscow against the authorities refusal to register opposition candidates for local elections.

Deacon Dmitry Bayev wrote to the Vyatka Diocese on Feb. 25, asking to be made supernumerary (pochislit za shtat) until the situation is settled, since as a Christian holding the rank of deacon, he could not participate in services at which prayers were offered for the government and armed forces. He posted the letter to social media on the same day.

On March 11, the Diocese banned him from serving on the grounds of three Apostolic Canons, including Canon No. 25, which refers to being found guilty of fornication, perjury, or theft despite the fact that Bayev had not yet been charged with any offence under secular law. The Diocese announced an ecclesiastical tribunal.

Forum 18 wrote to the Vyatka Diocese press office on May `1, asking what the outcome of the church tribunal was, and why diocesan authorities had banned Bayev from serving in church under Apostolic Canon No. 25 when he had not committed any of the named offences and before any criminal case had been opened. Forum 18 received no reply by the middle of the working day of May 13.

The Investigative Committee opened a case against Bayev on March 23 under Criminal Code Article 207. 3, Part 2, Paragraph d (Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation based on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity, or based on hatred or enmity against any social group).

It does not appear that this was because of any protests made on religious grounds, but as Current Time noted on April 1, because of his vociferous general condemnation of Russias actions in Ukraine, including comments that Ukrainian troops had sent 17,500 orcs [a derogatory word for Russian soldiers] to the next world and that Russian troops were occupiers.

Bayev has also posted about the Genocide of the population of Ukraine by Russian orcs (with a series of pictures of destruction in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol), has called the FSB security service a terrorist grouping, and is highly condemnatory of the Russian government and army and the Russian Orthodox Church.

Bayev is now outside Russia, he told Idel Realii on April 12, and does not intend to return, because I was given to understand that as soon as I cross the border in the opposite direction, they will immediately take me in.

The degree to which state authorities are putting pressure on religious leaders and organizations at different levels is unclear. Asked whether Russian Orthodox diocesan authorities were acting autonomously in disciplining clergy over their views on the war, a priest told Forum 18 that Russia has not been just taken over by enemies or extraterrestrials. Becoming a bishop can only be done by being willing to play by certain rules.. No special pressure [from the authorities] is needed here.

According to Archbishop Dietrich Brauer, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia, the Presidential Administration issued a clear demand to all religious leaders to speak out in support of Russias invasion of Ukraine. Brauer gave a sermon in Moscows Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul on Feb. 27, which consisted of thinly veiled criticism of the war. He left Russia for Germany shortly afterwards and sees no possibility of return in the near future.

I believe that under no circumstances is it appropriate to put pressure on religious leaders, Archbishop Brauer commented to independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta on March 22. On the contrary, it is they who can become intermediaries in achieving sustainable peace.

In an interview with Die Kirche (a weekly church newspaper in Berlin and Brandenburg) on April 14, Brauer said: We are witnessing the blackmail of religion. But we shouldnt abandon the truth of the gospel, because then we have no future. He also noted that prayers in Russian churches cannot specify that we have in mind the people in Ukraine, the images and horrors of the war.

Brauer described the invasion as unimaginable in an interview on March 17 with Magdalena Smetana, press officer of Wrttemberg Diocese. We were not allowed to talk about the war, pray for peace, or contact our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, he said.

The Presidential Administration made a clear demand of all religious leaders to speak out and support the war. Most did. [My] Catholic colleague refers to the Vatican and is silent, the Jewish chief rabbi, who also has American citizenship, found clever words. He called on everyone to work for peace. We could have joined that. I wanted to write a joint statement with all religious communities, but the others didnt agree. Together we could have made a difference.

I clearly and publicly distance myself from this war, which is not just a war against Ukraine, but a war against humanity. It is not carried out in our name.

The website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia still lists Brauer as Archbishop, but notes that due to his absence, his duties are being carried out by Deputy Archbishop, Provost Vladimir Provorov.

An official statement issued by the Church in March (signed by Provorov) noted that we feel united with our country and we pray for our people, for the well-being, freedom, wisdom and strength of our state. It goes on to acknowledge that parishioners may have different beliefs and views. The doors of our churches remain open to all. We regard all believers as brothers and sisters. At the same time, we avoid political discussions and splits in the communities.

We deeply regret that people are now suffering and dying in Ukraine, the Lutheran statement continued, and we call on politicians to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict as soon as possible.. Despite all the political divisions in our societies, we feel our spiritual connection with our Ukrainian co-religionists and pray for the speedy onset of peace and that there will be no hatred, bitterness and confrontation between our peoples.

A Protestant pastor from a non-Lutheran denomination, who asked not to be identified, told Forum 18 that the security services are exerting pressure on religious communities at a local level. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FSB officers in one city have visited at least two Protestant pastors for prophylactic conversations, warning them not to post material criticizing the war on social media, or to speak out against it in church. The officers warned them that they could face prosecution if they did so and it would be better not to write or say anything about the war.

According to the pastor who spoke to Forum 18, the FSB security service has long shown interest in any Ukrainian connections churches may have, such as when the church received visitors from there.

After undercover officers went to one Protestant church in the Mari-El Republic in 2019, prosecutors charged both the church and a visiting Ukrainian musician with unlawful missionary activity under Administrative Code Article 5.26, Parts 4 and 5.

Since the Russian invasion, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has blocked dozens of webpages, both Russian and foreign, which describe events in Ukraine as a war, discuss Russian losses or alleged atrocities, or criticize the Russian government.

On April 20, at the request of Russias General Prosecutors Office, Roskomnadzor blocked access to an article entitled Russian troops purposefully destroy churches and places of worship in Ukraine, published by Belarusian news outlet Brestskaya Gazeta on April 11. The article outlined the destruction of at least 59 places of worship as of March 25, Christian (including those of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate), Jewish, and Muslim. It also noted the deaths of priests in Russian bombardments of Ukrainian towns and villages.

(As of May 8, 116 places of worship and other religious buildings had been destroyed or damaged in Russian attacks, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.)

A few days later, the article disappeared entirely from the Brestskaya Gazeta website. Roskomnadzor demanded [that we] delete this article, staff at the newspaper told Forum 18 on April 26. Since the site is hosted in Belarus, we had to delete it. They did not explain why they had to abide by Roskomnadzors demand, as the newspaper is registered and its website hosted outside Russia.

Roskomnadzor blocked another Brestskaya Gazeta article (about how to talk to relatives who do not believe in Russian atrocities in Ukraine) on April 13, which has also been removed. According to GlobalCheck, which monitors internet censorship in Russia, Brestkaya Gazetas entire site is inaccessible in Russia, despite not appearing to be blocked as a whole by Roskomnadzor.

On April 1, also at the request of Russias General Prosecutors Office, Roskomnadzor blocked a Russian-language appeal on the foreign Protestant website invictory.org by Valery Antonyuk, head of the All-Ukrainian Union of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists, to Protestant pastors in Russia, Belarus, and elsewhere.

Antonyuk talks about how Russian soldiers destroy cities, wipe out villages, rob and rape in Ukraine, condemns the silence of Evangelical leaders, and calls on them to speak out against the war: Where are todays Niemllers and Bonhoeffers in your churches? he asks, in a reference to German pastors who opposed the Nazis. Where are Gods pastors who clearly call aggression aggression, annexation theft, and presidents who unleash bloody wars criminals? Many Christians and their pastors, unfortunately, today believe more in the new bible, Russian TV, than in the testimonies of brothers and sisters in faith.

Roskomnadzors demand to invictory.org dated March 26 and seen by Forum 18 describes Antonyuks appeal as containing untrustworthy information which may contribute to the destabilization of the situation, as well as the creation of conditions for mass violations of public order and public security on the territory of the Russian Federation. Roskomnadzor demanded that the website take down the page within 24 hours and inform it when it had done so. Roskomnadzor warned that if the website failed to take down the material, it would be entirely blocked in Russia.

According to GlobalCheck, invictory.org is inaccessible in Russia, despite not appearing to be blocked as a whole by Roskomnadzor.

Forum 18 wrote to Roskomnadzor in the afternoon of the working day of May 10, asking why it had blocked these webpages and on what grounds it could demand the removal of material from a site hosted abroad. Forum 18 received no reply by the middle of the working day of May 13.

This story is republished from Forum 18.

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Russian Religious Communities Opposed to Ukraine War Face Pressure And Censorship - Religion Unplugged

How people feel about Big Tech has changed since last year.

A new study from the Pew Research Center found that fewer people in the US want more regulations for Big Tech companies. This decline, which spans across the political spectrum, showed that 44 percent of Americans are in favor of more government regulation compared to 56 percent of those surveyed last year.

That doesnt necessarily mean theyre all in favor of less regulation; for example, 32 percent of liberal Democrats surveyed say that the current amount of regulation is just right compared to the 23 percent who thought so in 2021. However, 27 percent of moderate or liberal Republicans do support less regulation, up from 13 percent, and 36 percent of conservative Republicans do, too, up from 11 percent. Only 35 percent of those conservative Republicans surveyed desire more regulation now, a drop from the 59 percent recorded in 2021.

In 2018, following Facebooks Cambridge Analytica scandal that found that the company harvested data from at least 50 million users without their permission, many people called for more regulations from the US government, and Congress went on to question Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech leaders. Globally, this sparked a backlash against Big Tech companies and lots of ideas about how to regulate them. The EU in particular has been pushing hard with a huge new antitrust law called the Digital Markets Act, though its implementation has been postponed until next year. Its also enforcing older laws like the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, to hold tech companies more accountable for their business practices.

The Pew study also addresses one possible reason why Americans might be softening on additional regulation: the popular idea that social networks are censoring speech. Now, 77 percent of Americans surveyed say that its likely that social media platforms intentionally censor opposing political viewpoints, up from 73 percent in 2020, and 44 percent say these platforms favor liberal views over conservative ones, according to the survey.

Twitter, Facebook, and others have been criticized by users for censorship, but prospective new Twitter owner Elon Musk has declared he would take a more relaxed approach to how Twitter handles its content moderation. As Verge contributing editor Casey Newton points out in his latest Platformer newsletter, Musk might want to look at these companies transparency reports; he explains that many of these removals referenced in complaints about censorship are rooted in mistakes and that social networks remove others because its good for business. Over and over again, social products find that their usage shrinks when even a small percentage of the material they host includes spam, nudity, gore, or people harassing each other, Newton writes.

Understanding that can help people have better conversations surrounding online content.

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Fewer Americans think Big Tech should have more regulations - The Verge

In the wake of the death of the Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the images of Israeli police officers beating pallbearers at her funeral, the discussion over the past week has focused primarily on the question of the damage to Israels international reputation and not the fear that a life was taken due to an error the responsibility for which has not yet been determined, whether that of an Israel Defense Forces soldier or a Palestinian gunman. The violence of the police officers during the funeral procession also drew little attention from most Israelis and Israeli media outlets. To many people, appearances are everything.

Against the backdrop of this public atmosphere, it is easy to understand how it is that the IDF Military Censor which operates by dint of emergency regulations that have been in effect since the country's establishment, in the name of national security got up on its hind legs in order to prevent a different publication with the potential to affect Israels image: the purpose for which, according to defense sources, then-Mossad chief Yossi Cohen traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2019 (see story, page 1).

Cohen visited Congo three times during that year with the Israeli billionaire businessman Dan Gertler, without coordinating with the authorities and while concealing his identity. During at least two of these trips he met with Congos former president, Joseph Kabila, a matter that aroused the suspicion of President Felix Tshisekedi. Cohens relationship with Kabila and his uncoordinated visits triggered apprehension in people close to Tshisekedi, and in a rare move he expelled the Mossad director from the country at the end of the third visit. Cohens odd conduct, which led to his expulsion and the exposure of his activity in Congo, is the part of the story that was not censored.

The purpose of these visits is in itself a Pandoras box, but the censor is not permitting publication of those details. It appears that Cohens mission in Congo had only a tangential connection to Israels national security, and his employment of the Mossad in dealing with it raises difficult questions regarding the judgment of Cohen and of the state.

It can be said with a great degree of certainty that the Military Censor is preventing publication for considerations having to do with the image of the state that do not necessarily have direct bearing on its security. Although publication of the details of the affair has the potential to generate an international storm, it is difficult to imagine that their disclosure could do concrete damage to national security.

Just as the Military Censor does not have a mandate to prevent publication of the images from Abu Aklehs funeral even though they are harmful to Israels image it is similarly exceeding its mandate when it prevents publication of Cohens reasons for traveling to Congo. The censor must immediately lift the blackout on details of the affair. A state whose military censor operates out of considerations of the optics does not deserve to be called a democracy.

The above article is Haaretz's lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.

Read the rest here:
Who is the Israeli army censor protecting? - Haaretz

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WASHINGTON, May 17, 2022

Michelle Obama's When We All Vote's 'Culture of Democracy Summit' will bring together industry leaders across sectors for a national conversation about protecting and expanding democracy ahead of the midterms

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, When We All Vote announced that 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee Eric Holder; Grammy, Emmy and Academy Award-winning rapper, activist and actor Common; President of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund Alexis McGill Johnson; Staff Writer at The New York Times Magazine and Creator of The 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones; Emmy-winning writer, comedian, actor and producer Wanda Sykes; and more will join the organization's inaugural Culture of Democracy Summit June 10th-13th in Los Angeles, CA. When We All Vote Co-Chair and Founder Michelle Obama will serve as the keynote speaker. More participants will be announced over the next few weeks.

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Common, Eric Holder, Alexis McGill Johnson, Wanda Sykes and More to Join When We All Vote's Inaugural Culture of Democracy Summit

The Summit will include virtual programming on Friday, June 10th, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT and in-person convenings and experiences on June 11th and 12th in Los Angeles, CA. On Monday, June 13th a final series of conversations will begin at 9 a.m. PT on the main stage at the Banc of California stadium culminating Mrs. Obama's keynote speech that evening. This all day event will include on-site activations, food and an after party for attendees.

This nonpartisan convening will bring together artists, athletes, academics, artists, grassroots organizers and leaders in technology, civics and corporations to discuss the role different industries play in protecting and strengthening democracy through voter registration, education, mobilization and culture change. The organization announced the following speakers today:

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Ian Bassin, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Protect Democracy

Caty Borum, Executive Director, Center for Media & Social Impact

Latosha Brown, Co-Founder Black Voters Matter Fund; Founder, Southern Black Girls & Women's Consortium

Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Co-President, The Recording Academy

Anto Chvez, Video Producer, United We Dream

Common, Grammy, Emmy and Academy Award-winning rapper, activist and actor

Tiffany D. Cross, MSNBC Host of The Cross Connection

Marc Elias, Founder, Democracy Docket

DeNora Getachew, CEO, DoSomething

Nikole Hannah-Jones, Staff Writer, The New York Times Magazine; Creator, The 1619 Project

Julia Hartz, Co-Founder and CEO, Eventbrite

Eric H. Holder, Jr., 82nd Attorney General of the United States; Chairman, National Democratic Redistricting Committee

Valerie Jarrett, Board Chair, Civic Nation

Kyle Lierman, CEO, Civic Nation

Alexis McGill Johnson, President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Yvette Nicole Brown, Emmy-nominated actress and host

Judith Nwandu, Political Host and Producer, The Shade Room

Wanda Sykes, Emmy-winning writer, comedian, actor and producer

Allie Young, Founder, Protect the Sacred

Stephanie L. Young, Executive Director, When We All Vote

The Summit will explore how voting impacts criminal justice reform, reproductive rights, climate justice and more. It will also explore how the voting landscape is impacted by voter suppression, ways to counter it and culture's role in shaping democracy from the federal level down to local elected officials.

The virtual day of the Summit will be open to the press, and reporters interested in attending in-person on June 13th should email press@civicnation.org. A limited number of in-person press passes will be available. The Summit is being produced by Live Nation Urban and MKG, and ticketing is being supported by When We All Vote partner, Eventbrite. All Summit events, with the exception of a smaller gathering, will be held outside and all events will follow all CDC Covid-19 protocols. More announcements about speakers and the agenda are forthcoming. Tickets and more information are available here.

ABOUT When We All Vote:

When We All Vote, an initiative of Civic Nation, is a leading national, nonpartisan initiative on a mission to change the culture around voting and to increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap. Created by Michelle Obama, When We All Vote brings together individuals, institutions, brands, and organizations to register new voters across the country and advance civic education for the entire family and voters of every age to build an informed and engaged electorate for today and generations to come. We empower our supporters and volunteers to take action through voting, advocating for their rights, and holding their elected officials accountable.

In 2020, When We All Vote ran a robust, multifaceted campaign and reached more than 100 million people to educate them about the voting process and get them registered and ready to vote. The initiative also led in voter education, registration, and volunteer engagement and as a result, 512,000 people started or completed the voter registration process, and nearly 500 media, corporate, and nonprofit partners joined its efforts.

Michelle Obama launched When We All Vote in 2018 and is joined by fellow Co-Chairs Stephen Curry, Becky G, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, H.E.R., Liza Koshy, Jennifer Lopez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Janelle Monae, Chris Paul, Megan Rapinoe, Shonda Rhimes, Bretman Rock, Kerry Washington and Rita Wilson.

When We All Vote is a key initiative within Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) organization, and works with Civic Nation Action, a 501(c)(4). These organizations are homes for changemakers who inspire, educate, and activate people around the issues that will define this generation.

ABOUT Civic Nation:

Civic Nation is a nonpartisan, nonprofit home for changemakers who inspire, educate, and activate people around the issues that will define this generation. Civic Nation empowers and educates individuals, companies, institutions and organizations to drive culture, systems, and policy change, working towards a more inclusive and equitable America. Seven initiatives are a part of the Civic Nation family: When We All Vote, United State of Women, ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, End Rape On Campus, It's On Us, Made to Save and We The Action. Learn more here.

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Saturday's massacre in Buffalo, New York, is the latest mass shooting in which authorities say the suspect was motivated by hate.The suspected shooter, an 18-year-old white man, shot and killed 10 people and injured three others at a supermarket in a predominantly Black area, authorities said. Eleven of the victims are Black."We'll be aggressive in our pursuit of anyone who subscribes to the ideals professed by other white supremacists and how there's a feeding frenzy on social media platforms where hate festers more hate," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday.Investigators in the case have found evidence indicating "racial animosity," Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said during a Saturday news conference. The FBI says it is investigating the incident as a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism.The attack comes amid surging levels of hate crimes across the country. An FBI report published last year found U.S. hate crime reports in 2020 rose to the highest level in 12 years. Also in 2020, the Department of Homeland Security warned white supremacists were likely to remain the most "persistent and lethal threat" in the country.Here are other high-profile massacres in recent years that authorities have said were fueled by hate.A shooter 'hated the Jewish community and Muslim community'John T. Earnest admitted to a shooting at a San Diego area synagogue that left one person dead and three others injured in 2019. In December, Earnest was sentenced to a second life sentence after pleading guilty to a 113-count indictment that included hate crime and weapons violations.He was armed with an AR-15 style rifle when he entered the crowded Chabad of Poway synagogue and began shooting. He also admitted to setting fire to a mosque in nearby Escondido several weeks before the shooting."The defendant targeted his victims because he hated the Jewish community and Muslim community," Randy Grossman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, previously said."The defendant and his hatred have been silenced. He will spend the rest of his days and die in prison, while he languishes behind bars," Grossman said.The deadliest attack on Latinos in modern US historyPatrick Crusius, the man accused of killing 23 people and injuring nearly two dozen others in a 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart store, was indicted on dozens of federal charges, including hate crimes resulting in death and hate crimes involving an attempt to kill.The rampage was the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern U.S. history.Crusius was accused of killing and harming the victims "because of the actual and perceived national origin of any person," the indictment said. An earlier arrest affidavit said he told police his targets were Mexicans.He has pleaded not guilty and is yet to stand trial. Lawyers for Crusius have said he was in a psychotic state after the shooting and suffers from mental disabilities.11 worshippers killed in a Pittsburgh synagogueIn October 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshippers in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the U.S., according to the Anti-Defamation League.Authorities said Robert Bowers targeted Jews online and made anti-Semitic comments during the shooting. Later, while receiving medical care, he told a SWAT officer that he wanted all Jews to die, according to a criminal complaint.Federal prosecutors filed hate crime charges against Bowers, claiming he used anti-Semitic slurs and criticized a Jewish group on a social media site in the days leading up to the shooting.Tree of Life synagogue: Remembering the lives lostFederal prosecutors said in 2019 they would seek the death penalty on charges that include obstruction of free exercise on religious beliefs resulting in death, use and discharge of a firearm to commit murder and possession of a firearm during a violent crime.They said they are justified to seek the death penalty because of the role that Bowers' anti-Semitic views played in the shooting.He has pleaded not guilty and is yet to be tried.A Charleston church becomes a targetIn June 2015, avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof gunned down nine African American worshippers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church -- a historic Black church -- in Charleston, South Carolina.Roof was convicted of federal charges and sentenced to death in January 2017. He was the first federal hate-crime defendant to be sentenced to death, a Justice Department spokesman said."Mother Emanuel was his destination specifically because it was an historically African American church of significance to the people of Charleston, of South Carolina and to the nation," then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in 2015. "On that summer evening, Dylann Roof found his targets, African-Americans engaged in worship."Roof spent months plotting the attack, Lynch said."He was looking for the type of church and the type of parishioners whose death would, in fact, draw great notoriety for...his racist views," she said.Attacker who had talked about a 'racial holy war'Another place of worship -- meant to be a refuge -- was the scene of mass shooting in August 2012.An Army veteran opened fire in a gurdwara -- or Sikh house of worship -- in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six people and wounding four others.Wade Michael Page died of a self-inflicted wound after being shot by a police officer, the FBI said. The shooting came as violent attacks on Sikhs were spiking following September 11, 2001.Then-Attorney General Eric Holder called the attack "an act of terrorism, an act of hatred, a hate crime."According to a man who described himself as an old Army buddy of Page's, the attacker talked about "racial holy war" when they served together in the 1990s.Christopher Robillard, of Oregon, who said he had lost contact with Page, added in 2012 that when Page would rant, "it would be about mostly any non-white person.

Saturday's massacre in Buffalo, New York, is the latest mass shooting in which authorities say the suspect was motivated by hate.

The suspected shooter, an 18-year-old white man, shot and killed 10 people and injured three others at a supermarket in a predominantly Black area, authorities said. Eleven of the victims are Black.

"We'll be aggressive in our pursuit of anyone who subscribes to the ideals professed by other white supremacists and how there's a feeding frenzy on social media platforms where hate festers more hate," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Saturday.

Investigators in the case have found evidence indicating "racial animosity," Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said during a Saturday news conference. The FBI says it is investigating the incident as a hate crime and a case of racially motivated violent extremism.

The attack comes amid surging levels of hate crimes across the country. An FBI report published last year found U.S. hate crime reports in 2020 rose to the highest level in 12 years. Also in 2020, the Department of Homeland Security warned white supremacists were likely to remain the most "persistent and lethal threat" in the country.

Here are other high-profile massacres in recent years that authorities have said were fueled by hate.

John T. Earnest admitted to a shooting at a San Diego area synagogue that left one person dead and three others injured in 2019. In December, Earnest was sentenced to a second life sentence after pleading guilty to a 113-count indictment that included hate crime and weapons violations.

He was armed with an AR-15 style rifle when he entered the crowded Chabad of Poway synagogue and began shooting. He also admitted to setting fire to a mosque in nearby Escondido several weeks before the shooting.

"The defendant targeted his victims because he hated the Jewish community and Muslim community," Randy Grossman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, previously said.

"The defendant and his hatred have been silenced. He will spend the rest of his days and die in prison, while he languishes behind bars," Grossman said.

Patrick Crusius, the man accused of killing 23 people and injuring nearly two dozen others in a 2019 mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart store, was indicted on dozens of federal charges, including hate crimes resulting in death and hate crimes involving an attempt to kill.

The rampage was the deadliest attack on Latinos in modern U.S. history.

Crusius was accused of killing and harming the victims "because of the actual and perceived national origin of any person," the indictment said. An earlier arrest affidavit said he told police his targets were Mexicans.

He has pleaded not guilty and is yet to stand trial. Lawyers for Crusius have said he was in a psychotic state after the shooting and suffers from mental disabilities.

In October 2018, a gunman killed 11 worshippers in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue, in what is believed to be the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the U.S., according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Authorities said Robert Bowers targeted Jews online and made anti-Semitic comments during the shooting. Later, while receiving medical care, he told a SWAT officer that he wanted all Jews to die, according to a criminal complaint.

Federal prosecutors filed hate crime charges against Bowers, claiming he used anti-Semitic slurs and criticized a Jewish group on a social media site in the days leading up to the shooting.

Tree of Life synagogue: Remembering the lives lost

Federal prosecutors said in 2019 they would seek the death penalty on charges that include obstruction of free exercise on religious beliefs resulting in death, use and discharge of a firearm to commit murder and possession of a firearm during a violent crime.

They said they are justified to seek the death penalty because of the role that Bowers' anti-Semitic views played in the shooting.

He has pleaded not guilty and is yet to be tried.

In June 2015, avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof gunned down nine African American worshippers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church -- a historic Black church -- in Charleston, South Carolina.

Roof was convicted of federal charges and sentenced to death in January 2017. He was the first federal hate-crime defendant to be sentenced to death, a Justice Department spokesman said.

"Mother Emanuel was his destination specifically because it was an historically African American church of significance to the people of Charleston, of South Carolina and to the nation," then-U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in 2015. "On that summer evening, Dylann Roof found his targets, African-Americans engaged in worship."

Roof spent months plotting the attack, Lynch said.

"He was looking for the type of church and the type of parishioners whose death would, in fact, draw great notoriety for...his racist views," she said.

Another place of worship -- meant to be a refuge -- was the scene of mass shooting in August 2012.

An Army veteran opened fire in a gurdwara -- or Sikh house of worship -- in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six people and wounding four others.

Wade Michael Page died of a self-inflicted wound after being shot by a police officer, the FBI said. The shooting came as violent attacks on Sikhs were spiking following September 11, 2001.

Then-Attorney General Eric Holder called the attack "an act of terrorism, an act of hatred, a hate crime."

According to a man who described himself as an old Army buddy of Page's, the attacker talked about "racial holy war" when they served together in the 1990s.

Christopher Robillard, of Oregon, who said he had lost contact with Page, added in 2012 that when Page would rant, "it would be about mostly any non-white person.

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