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New Delhi, August 12

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has written a letter to the Censor Board objecting to its undue negative portrayal in the movie Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, said a senior official.

The movie was released on streaming platform Netflix on Wednesday.

According to the official, the letter mentions concerns related to the movies portrayal of gender bias as an institutional work culture at the IAF.

The movie is based on the life of IAF officer Gunjan Saxena who became the first woman pilot to take part in the 1999 Kargil war. It has been produced by Karan Johars Dharma Productions.

The IAF has written a letter to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) objecting to certain scenes in the movie Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl wherein it has been portrayed in undue negative light, the official said.

The official said a copy of the letter has also been sent to Netflix.

Before the release of the film, the IAF had requested Dharma Productions to modify or delete the objectionable scenes. However, it did not take any action, the official noted.

The Defence Ministry had written to the CBFC last month raising strong objections to the depiction of armed forces personnel in some web series, sources said.

It had urged that production houses may be advised to obtain a no-objection certificate from the ministry before telecasting any film, documentary or web series on an Army theme, they added.

The ministry had received some complaints raising strong objections about the portrayal of Indian Army personnel and the military uniform in an insulting manner, they said.

The sources said the communication last month was also sent to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for consideration. PTI

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IAF writes to censor board objecting to its undue negative portrayal in movie Gunjan Saxena - The Tribune India

HOUSTON, Texas - U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wrote in a new op-ed for Fox News about the sanctions announced against him by the Chinese Communist Party. The op-ed highlighted China's recent human rights atrocities and the need for the United States to recognize that China is our greatest geopolitical threat.

On China's announced sanctions against him, Sen. Cruz wrote:

'China announced sanctions against me this week for the second time in a month. This time it was for speaking out against China's deepening control of Hong Kong. The first time, in July, the Chinese government sanctioned me and banned me from traveling to China for condemning the Chinese Communist Party's horrific human rights abuses against the Uighurs.'

On China's threats to the Uighurs and Hong Kong's autonomy, Sen. Cruz added:

'The Chinese regime has forced over 1 million Uighurs into concentration camps and has engaged in ethnic cleansing, including through forced abortions and sterilizations. [...] China has undeniably violated Hong Kong's autonomy at the expense of the precious freedoms that the people of Hong Kong fought tirelessly and bravely to preserve. The recent arrests of Jimmy Lai, his family, and other brave journalists who dared to speak out against the Chinese Communist Party are just the latest examples.'

He continued:

'Unfortunately, China's treatment of Hong Kong and the Uighurs is part of a pattern of despicable behavior including China's aggression, human rights abuses, espionage operations, censorship practices and propaganda campaigns. And what we've learned in the past few months is that the Communist Chinese government's lies, censorship, propaganda, and human rights abuses have serious implications for public health.'

Sen. Cruz concluded:

'We need to do everything we can to make it clear that the United States will not tolerate China's relentless attempts to bully its neighbors into submission and will not tolerate China's espionage operations and propaganda campaigns on American soil. China is expanding its malign influence all over the world. For the sake of the free world, America needs to win this contest.'

Sen. Cruz is leading the charge to fundamentally reassess the U.S.-China relationship and counter Chinese censorship in the wake of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) coronavirus coverup. In April, Sen. Cruz introduced the SCRIPT Act as part of a comprehensive push to combat China's growing influence over what Americans see and hear. He also introduced the BEAMS Act as part of a successful push to prevent the CCP from blanketing the U.S. with propaganda.

After the CCP first announced sanctions against him, Sen. Cruz delivered remarks on the Senate floor to hold China accountable for their coronavirus cover-up and for engaging in censorship and propaganda campaigns in China and here in the United States. Recently, Sen. Cruz introduced the Protecting America from Spies Act that would allow the Department of State to deny visas to individuals who have committed acts of espionage or intellectual property theft against the United States. Learn more about Sen. Cruz's push to counter Chinese propaganda here.

Read the full op-ed here and below:

Sen. Ted Cruz: China sanctions me again - Communist Party is terrified and lashing outFox NewsSen. CruzAugust 15, 2020

China announced sanctions against me this week for the second time in a month. This time it was for speaking out against China's deepening control of Hong Kong.

The first time, in July, the Chinese government sanctioned me and banned me from traveling to China for condemning the Chinese Communist Party's horrific human rights abuses against the Uighurs.

The irony is that those atrocities had already made China a less than attractive tourist destination.

The Chinese regime has forced over 1 million Uighurs into concentration camps and has engaged in ethnic cleansing, including through forced abortions and sterilizations.

Last October, I went to Hong Kong and met with pro-democracy activists, dissidents, and protest leaders to express my support for the fight to protect Hong Kong's autonomy, free speech and basic human rights. Dressed all in black, we stood together in solidarity, demanding that China honor the deal it agreed to pledging to protect Hong Kong's autonomy.

China has undeniably violated Hong Kong's autonomy at the expense of the precious freedoms that the people of Hong Kong fought tirelessly and bravely to preserve. The recent arrests of Jimmy Lai, his family, and other brave journalists who dared to speak out against the Chinese Communist Party are just the latest examples.

More broadly, China is the greatest geopolitical threat facing the United States and our allies - now and for the next century. China's objective is nothing short of global domination.

Yet many on the world stage, including at the United Nations, turn a blind eye to China's barbaric behavior and aggression. That is not the case in the United States. We must and will respond.

For example, I spearheaded the Hong Kong Policy Reevaluation Act, which required the State Department to report on whether China was eroding Hong Kong's autonomy, setting up a formal process for altering U.S. policy if this proved to be the case.

President Trump signed this bill into law in November 2019 as part of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. The Trump administration then issued the mandated report, unfortunately, but correctly concluding that China had undermined Hong Kong's autonomy, and then changing our policies.

As the Trump administration's actions make clear, America will not stand by and allow tyrants in China to exploit the special treatment Hong Kong received under U.S. law.

As we all know, China violated that deal. The Communist Chinese government was hoping it could silence and oppress the people of Hong Kong in the dark of night without anybody noticing. But we've noticed, and we won't back down.

Unfortunately, China's treatment of Hong Kong and the Uighurs is part of a pattern of despicable behavior including China's aggression, human rights abuses, espionage operations, censorship practices and propaganda campaigns.

And what we've learned in the past few months is that the Communist Chinese government's lies, censorship, propaganda, and human rights abuses have serious implications for public health. As brave Chinese doctors and journalists were trying to warn the world about coronavirus, they were silenced, and many disappeared.

The Chinese lied to the world about the coronavirus, and what began as a regional outbreak is now a deadly pandemic that has sickened over 21 million people and claimed the lives of over 761,000 around the world.

The Communist Chinese government is directly responsible for those deaths.

It's time for the United States to take serious measures to hold China accountable. That's why I've been fighting in the Senate to fundamentally reassess our relationship with China and counter Chinese censorship in the wake of the Communist Chinese government's coronavirus cover-up.

We need to do everything we can to make it clear that the United States will not tolerate China's relentless attempts to bully its neighbors into submission and will not tolerate China's espionage operations and propaganda campaigns on American soil. China is expanding its malign influence all over the world.

For the sake of the free world, America needs to win this contest.

###

The rest is here:
Sen. Cruz on FoxNews.com: China Is Expanding Its Malign Influence All Over the World - Marketscreener.com

Factually is a newsletter about fact-checking and accountability journalism, from Poynters International Fact-Checking Network & the American Press Institutes Accountability Project. Sign up here

The major social media platforms arent always in lockstep on what content they moderate. But this week, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube were all on the same page in blocking a video of a group called Americas Frontline Doctors touting the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for COVID-19, contrary to scientific evidence. One of the doctors said you dont need masks to halt the spread of the virus.

By now, the story of the video is well known the retweets by President Donald Trump and his son, the fact-checks that followed, and the bizarre beliefs of one of the doctors involved, Stella Immanuel.

What happened in the days after that, though, is key in understanding the methods and tactics of people who push unproven cures and other falsehoods and then have their content blocked: The blocking itself and the claims of censorship that follow become part of the attempt to get attention.

The day after the video of their Washington press conference was removed, the white-coated doctors were out again talking about the same messages, but with an added angle: They were being silenced.

Were coming after you Big Tech, were coming after you, said Simone Gold, one of the doctors leading the effort. We wont be silenced,

The censorship message then took off among the doctors supporters on Twitter and other platforms.

This is a common tactic among groups that champion unconventional messages. The censorship claim becomes central to their efforts to control the narrative, said Aimee Rinehart, U.S. deputy director of the nonprofit organization First Draft, which fights disinformation.

Cries that Big Tech is censoring us! become part of the attention grab, she said, even though the platforms are clear that they will only remove content that spreads false information about the coronavirus or messages that suppress the vote.

The doctors events were also held the same week that the CEOs of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple (Twitter was not among them) were testifying before a House subcommittee, which is probing the power of the tech companies. So it was convenient timing for the doctors, since there was a good chance that the platforms decision to take down the video would come up in the hearing, and it did.

In short, the doctors were successful in inserting their cause into the hearing, in effect, using the platforms content moderation decision to extend what might otherwise have been written off as a one-news-cycle fringe event.

Susan Benkelman, API

This week, Brazillian fact-checking organizations Agncia Lupa and Aos Fatos debunked a claim that citrus fruit peels contain the same basic ingredients as chloroquine and ivermectin.

Chloroquine has been shown to be ineffective at treating COVID-19 according to studies by both the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ivermectin, a medicine used to treat heartworm in animals and roundworm in humans, has shown some promise in early studies to treat COVID-19, but has not been properly vetted and approved to treat the disease.

Both fact-checkers talked to experts who explained both chloroquine and ivermectin are created through combining other chemicals in laboratory settings. They do not exist in citrus fruit peels. Both also noted misinformation about using citrus to treat COVID-19 is not new, and put this latest hoax in that context.

What we liked: This is a unique fact-check that builds on the work fact-checkers have been doing throughout the infodemic. It reiterates the current scientific understanding about the efficacy of chloroquine, and recognizes the trope of citrus fruits being used to treat COVID-19. This falsehood is a combination of those two narratives, and Aos Fatos and Agncia Lupa unpack that for their readers.

Harrison Mantas, IFCN

Thats it for this week! Feel free to send feedback and suggestions to factually@poynter.org. And if this newsletter was forwarded to you, or if youre reading it on the web, you can subscribe here. Thanks for reading.

Susan and Harrison

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Doctors' cries of censorship become part of their message - Poynter

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law on "Online Platforms and Market Power" in the Rayburn House office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 29, 2020.

Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

The House Judiciary Committee held an antitrust hearing on Wednesday with the CEOs of four of the largest U.S. technology companies Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google to determine whether they have grown too large (i.e., are "too successful"), and therefore, should be broken up.

Democrats on the Committee suggested that these companies' success threatens the free market and even democracy itself. Numerous Republicans raised concerns about their alleged political bias as well as their size.

Meanwhile, in China, the government is taking an opposite course. Instead of attacking its "national champions," China is showering them with government subsidies and discriminating against "would-be" competitors to great effect.

Ten years ago, nearly all of the top technology companies and start-ups in the world were American. Now, China has nine of the top 20 technology companies and four of the top 10 start-ups. And this trend appears likely to continue.

China recently passed the United States in the number of global patent applications and is on track to eclipse U.S. research and development spending in the next two years, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

As policymakers on the Right and Left increasingly proclaim the importance of out-innovating China in critical technologies, their comments during yesterday's hearing raise an important question which companies will they actually let play that role?

Ten years ago, nearly all of the top technology companies and start-ups in the world were American. Now, China has nine of the top 20 technology companies and four of the top 10 start-ups. And this trend appears likely to continue.

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are not the only important U.S. technology companies, but they spend a disproportionate amount on research and development in key areas like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and robotics. They are also leaders on privacy and security technology, an area where China poses a particular threat, and they provide communication alternatives to less secure Chinese competitors. Mere search engines and social networks they are not.

Moreover, all four companies are uniquely American. They were built from the ground up by hard-working middle-class entrepreneurs, they revolutionized their industries, and they provide platforms to expand American influence and ideals like free speech around the world.

So rather than tear down our most innovative and most American of companies, let's build them up and others like them to stay ahead of China. How to begin?

First, let's stop attacking success to score political points. Policymakers should always question potential monopolistic behavior and make sure that a diversity of opinions are allowed to thrive online, but much of Big Tech's recent scrutiny appears populist in nature either intended to bolster "anti-corporate" credentials or to admonish the political views of their CEOs and employees.

The consequences of this "loose talk" is real it threatens American jobs at these companies, discourages other would-be risk-takers from setting out on new ventures, and provides cover for other countries to target U.S. business. After all, if U.S. policymakers are attacking Big Tech, why shouldn't their counterparts in China and Europe do the same? Instead of needlessly hurting our most innovative companies, let's champion their ingenuity and encourage others to replicate it.

Second, let's use the size of these companies and the unique skill sets of their workers to the government's advantage. Let's harness their cross-cutting strengths through public-private partnerships and joint R&D programs in critical technologies so the United States (and the U.S. military) remains the global leader. When policymakers consider their options for a modern U.S. industrial policy, working with and further strengthening these American champions is exactly what they should be doing.

Third, let's tread carefully when it comes to circumscribing the activities of these and other U.S. companies abroad. There are areas where our companies should not be permitted to engage, such as helping China improve its military capability. But one of the best ways for America to stay ahead of its global competition is for our companies to sell more in markets like China so they can spend more on innovation in the United States.

Fourth, let's forcefully back these companies against unfair practices abroad, whether it be unacceptable pressure from China to censor their activities or opportunistic targeting from France for tax revenue. Such pressure is very difficult for companies to combat alone, and they shouldn't be criticized for trying. Rather, the U.S. government should stand by their side and help them to compete fairly in these crucial markets, not encourage them to disengage.

Finally, as we continue to push back against the unfair practices of others, let's not emulate them ourselves. Censorship and higher taxes are not the way to create more Apples, Amazons, Facebooks, and Googles. And using anti-trust tools for political purposes a trick right out of the Chinese playbook will certainly not help win the defining global competition of our time.

Clete Willems is a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, the former Deputy Director of the National Economic Council (2018-2019), and proudly represents innovative U.S. tech companies.

Excerpt from:
Op-ed: Censorship and higher taxes won't create more Apples, Amazons, Facebooks and Googles - CNBC

SALT LAKE CITY Sen. Mike Lee used his new Parler account to tout the fight hes picking with Google, Facebook, Twitter and Squarespace over how each internet platform moderates content in general, and potentially targets conservative voices

Somehow, Im willing to be(t) this will get more likes and shares on Parer (sic) than it will on Facebook and Twitter combined. In any event, I picked a big fight today with Google, Facebook, and Twitter, Lee posted to his @SenMikeLee Parler account Thursday evening.

Parler has emerged as the social media darling of some conservative U.S. politicians and commentators, and Lee has even worked to pump up the platform by issuing an invitation to President Donald Trump to join the party. Ironically, that invitation was proffered on Twitter, where the president enjoys a follower list north of 80 million accounts.

Not surprisingly, Parler was not one of the addressees of Lees letter Thursday that instead went to the CEOs of Google, Facebook, Twitter and Squarespace.

Lee, who earlier this week announced the Senate antitrust committee he chairs will host a hearing focused on Google and its online advertising practices, said he is most concerned with company conduct he believes is based on political bias rather than consistent, across-the-board content policies.

I am specifically concerned about corporations wielding their power unilaterally to silence opinions they dislike, and thus warp the public debates their platforms present to the American people, Lee wrote. In recent years, conservative voices like The Federalist, PragerU, President Trump, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Donald Trump, Jr., churches, religious groups, Christian schools and others have found themselves deplatformed, demonetized or otherwise penalized for expressing their opinions.

Lees concerns mirror some lines of questioning that arose during a House antitrust hearing this week that featured the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google.

During that virtual hearing, Congressman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio reeled off a list of instances of purported censoring of, or content warnings issued to, conservative social media posters.

Jordan accused the group of tech executives of selectively censoring those expressing politically conservative opinions and cautioned them that If it doesnt end, there have to be consequences.

Lee issued his own admonishment of big tech companies and the power he says theyre using inappropriately.

I view your heavy-handed censorship as a sign of exactly the sort of degraded quality one expects from a monopolist, Lee wrote. In any other business you would never dream of treating your customers the way you treat those with views you dont like.

In another Parler post on Thursday evening, Utahs senior senator linked to a story posted by right-wing website Breitbart News claiming Google has been censoring the outlets content from search results since the 2016 election. Attached to the post was Lees comment, This is not ok, and it has to stop.

In his letter, Lee also called out tech leaders for their roles in taking down video content that circulated earlier this week that showed what was characterized as a press conference by a group calling itself Americas Frontline Doctors.

CNN reported that the video, which had not been viewed by the Deseret News, was published by Breitbart News and included a quote from a woman claiming to be a doctor who said This virus has a cure, its called hydroxychloroquine, zinc, and Zithromax, and You dont need masks, there is a cure.

Lee declined to take a position on the content of the video, but said he supported a social media arena of open dialogue.

While Im not in a position to endorse or refute any of the doctors comments, I believe that we should err on the side of encouraging more speech, not less, Lee wrote.

The heart of the letter goes to 11 questions seeking details of how each of the platforms manages content moderation in the stipulated areas of COVID-19; violent riots and how they are distinguished from peaceful protests; hate speech; protections of the unborn; misinformation; and terrorist influence.

The questions include how content standards are established, the scope of processes designed to screen moderators for bias, whether user consent about content moderation is appropriately established, if platforms coordinate with each other on content moderation and other issues.

Deseret News requests for comment via email and social media direct messaging to Google, Facebook, Twitter and Squarespace were not immediately responded to.

While Lee rattled the saber of bringing antitrust regulations to bear on the behaviors of U.S. tech monoliths, Sen. Mitt Romney struck a somewhat more measured tone in comments he made Thursday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

I know theres great interest, sometimes politically, to go after some of the big tech companies, Google, Amazon and so forth and Facebook, and berate them for their market power, Romney said. And if they violate American antitrust laws, why, thats totally appropriate.

But I would note that were in a global competition. And China has been successful in driving a lot of Western companies out of business. Theyve not been successful in driving companies like these out of business. These are thriving and succeeding. The last thing we ought to be doing is trying to knock down businesses in the United States that are succeeding on a global stage.

Romney referenced the U.S. dominance, thus far, of China when it comes to innovation industries but cautioned against overreach when it comes to the companies that have solidified the countrys current high tech upper hand.

So, we need to be careful not to flex our muscle to berate those entities that are successful and are beating China, Romney said. Alibaba would like to replace Amazon. TikTok would like to replace Instagram. It just an area of concern.

Contributing: Dennis Romboy

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Lee says Google, Facebook and Twitter are censoring conservative voices - Deseret News