SIR - So the British Brainwashing Corporation are to ban Rule Brittania and Land of Hope and Glory from the proms.

The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Ji Blohlvek described the Proms as "the world's largest and most democratic musical festival".

Outside proms existed in London's pleasure gardens since the mid 18th century, and indoor proms became a feature of 19th century musical life in London from 1838, notably under the direction of Louis Antoine Jullien and Sir Arthur Sullivan. The annual series of Proms continuing today had their roots in that movement. They were inaugurated on August 10, 1895 in the Queen's Hall in Langham Place by the impresario Robert Newman, who was fully experienced in running similar concerts at His Majesty's Theatre.

So, we have had the proms, in one shape or another for nearly three hundred years. The BBC is a relatively new organisation and it should not be allowed censorship of what is chiefly a series of concerts celebrating British culture.

Will the BBC drop British from its name?

D Hodgson, Falcon Road , Bingley

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BBC should not allow censorship of Proms - Bradford Telegraph and Argus

Seinfeld became one of the most iconic comedies of all time thanks to their willingness to push boundaries. Overall, the series broke the mold for what a sitcom could look like. And while doing so they explored controversial issues and never-before-seen topics that audiences were shocked to see.

Not every storyline on Seinfeld aged well, though they were surprisingly progressive for their time. And theres one topic the writers thought theyd never get past television censors. The Contest is an episode wholly focused on the topic of masturbation, and yet amazingly, they never utter the word.

Most of Seinfelds content was inspired by real-life situations. The show explored the minutiae of everyday life but made it funny and over-the-top, which kept fans entertained and enthralled since they could relate to what was going on.

Series co-creator Larry David came up with The Contest based on a real contest he and his friends had involving who could go the longest without masturbating. Amazingly, the network allowed the content if no characters used the word masturbate. According to DVD extras, Julia Louis-Dreyfus never thought the episode would air because of the subject matter.

Later, David said the strength of the episode was that it used euphemisms for the act rather than explicit language. It even spurred one of the most notorious quotable lines in Seinfeld history, according to WikiSein.

RELATED: 5 Things That Still Make No Sense About Seinfeld

Its an unlikely topic for television. Still, season 4 episode 10 became popular because it was shockingly personal and therefore taboo. Somehow, David managed to make it clear what was going on without being explicit.

It all starts when George tells everyone his mother caught him masturbating, which caused her to fall over and injure herself. Everyone makes fun of George. Then, they come up with the idea to put up money to see who can go the longest without pleasuring themselves. The men put $100 on the contest but make Elaine put in $150, claiming its easier for women to refrain than for men.

The rest of the episode shows the group getting tempted in all kinds of different ways, like when Kramer sees a naked woman walking around her apartment or when Elaine runs into John F. Kennedy Jr. Jerry is dating a virgin who is finally ready to have sex. One by one, everyone drops out of the contest.

Its later implied that George won the contest though audiences never see him collect his earnings.

The episode avoids using explicit language to describe masturbation, which is how it got past censors in the first place. Ultimately, the euphemisms become more memorable anyway. Jerry refers to his self-control as being master of my domain, a phrase thats still employed today.

David considers The Contest one of the best episodes of the series not just because he wrote it, but because it highlighted exactly what Seinfeld aimed to do every time. Audiences laughed, cringed, and secretly related to the plights of Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer.

As usual, it was funny because it was true.

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'Seinfeld' Creators Never Thought 'The Contest' Would Get Past Censors But They Omitted 1 Crucial Word - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

BJP leader Kapil Mishra has been accused of making inflammatory speeches targeting anti-CAA protesters before the violence broke out.

Freedom of Expression has once again become a hot topic of debate in the country after publishers Bloomsbury India withdrew the book titled 'Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story' by advocate Monica Arora and Delhi University professors Sonali Chitalkar and Prerna Malhotra. The authors claimed this was a book based on facts and was checked by the publisher before publication.

What forced the publisher to withdraw is the garrulous noises of India's intolerant brigade, the Leftists and Islamists, who are unhappy at the prospect of getting exposed. They had tried to build lies around the Delhi riots despite facts to the contrary presented through police investigation, court observations and confessions by rioters. They feared being exposed.

These are the same sets of people who come in defence of lawyer Prashant Bhushan who is held guilty of contempt by the Supreme Court (the same courtesy was not extended when Justice Karnan was held guilty of contempt in 2017), or shout slogans of "Bharat tere tukde honge (India will split)", or "Afzal hum sharminda hain, tere qatil zinda hain (We are sorry Afzal that your killers are alive; in this case that would be the judiciary, because the apex court had upheld the hanging of Afzal Guru). These are the same people of the 'award wapsi gang' who said India had become intolerant.

What the publishers did is their business. The larger issue is what happened to these guardian angels of liberalism and open thoughts. Let thoughts come from all directions so that people can assimilate and process these to arrive at the truth. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore advocated that there should be no gag on knowledge. The mind must broaden to help mankinds struggle for wisdom.

But these people have adopted the communist ideology of censoring knowledge so that people dont get educated and become wise. They must live under the belief that what intellectuals decide for them is the best. This is like understanding scriptures through the mullahs or the clerics. These Leftists and Islamists have tried to occupy the mind space of the country since Independence. Whichever government came to power, they were not disturbed since they were entrenched in colleges and universities and most institutions of the country dealing with intellectual discourse. Even the film industry has been dominated by them. This explains why films were financed by mafia dons and how Dawood Ibrahim, declared international terrorist after the Mumbai blasts of 1993, ruled the roost.

They oppose Salman Rushdie for expressing his opinion about Islam. They oppose Taslima Nasreen for expressing her experiences of living in an Islamic society. They also oppose Tarek Fateh for articulating his opinion based on his experiences. But they support when an artist expresses his art by painting Hindu gods and goddesses nude. They are mum when temples are destroyed and Hindus humiliated. They are mum when Hagia Sophia, an iconic building, is reconverted into a mosque. Needless to mention that they were mum when journalist Alok Tomar was arrested for reproducing the Danish cartoonists caricature of Prophet Muhammad.

But their days are over because of the proliferation of social media and also realisation in many media houses that the nationalist urge for a strong India demands fair play based on logic and reason. Things have changed more particularly after Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 and got a resounding victory in 2019. There is no sign of abatement of Modis popularity and the India intolerant brigade knows that deliverance for them would not be easy.

They have become frustrated as they are losing their intellectual hegemony day by day. They fed lies to people on historical facts of Ayodhya and the renowned professors who did these are looking for cover after the Supreme Court gave its verdict that repudiated their claims. They used lies, assumptions and insinuations to create an optic that tried to confuse the nation. They are the ones who gave the Aryan invasion theory, now rejected after scientific evidence, to suit their narrative that Hindus were not original inhabitants of this land. Their politics dominated their writings.

They wallowed in excitement when the same publisher came out with a book on Shaheen Bagh which is a biased narrative and forwards the same arguments the Leftists/Islamists gave in various television debates. The book tried to defend the Constitution but could not justify opposition to a legislation passed by Parliament with an overwhelming majority. It tried to commit a fraud in the name of the Constitution.

Contrary to this, Monika Aroras book claims to be based on facts. These facts were not objected to when the publisher was in the processing of preparing the book for publication. Later, comments by Leftists/Islamists created a perception that the book was anti-Muslim. Since when has speaking against the guilty based on verified facts and interviews become anti-Muslim? They were rioters and people need to know who did what and why. But, alas, this did not suit the political narrative of the gang sponsored by the Congress. No wonder the Congress has jumped into the fray.

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Justice has its own way of getting vindicated. The controversy over the publication of the book has made everyone aware that there is a book of this nature and people are waiting excitedly to know the truth. Social media and debates over freedom of expression in this new context have made the book popular. The purpose of censoring the book has been defeated. Those who wallowed in victory would be sulking at the huge response. This is new India trying to break free from intellectual slavery of the Left-Islamists and fascists.

(The author is a national panel spokesperson of BJP and an author. Views expressed are personal.)

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How The Attempt To Censor A Book Telling The Truth About The Delhi Riots Has Backfired - News18

A federal civil servant who also contributes to a blog site is stripped away from his job and career in the national public service because of a piece he wrote about the relationship of technology companies and the Novel coronavirus. Josh Krook admits that his blogpost was non-controversial.

Josh Krook was recently stripped of his title and post in the federal public service in Australia's industry department because of a blog post. According to The Guardian, the particular post mainly tackled the Novel coronavirus changing the landscape of the world and led to a reliance on technology.

The newly established blog site,Oxford Political Review, contained Krook's piece, which he submitted and published last April. Krook claims that the blogpost was uncontroversial and impartial of all technology companies.

He presented a view on how social isolation and disconnection from the outside world benefitted technological companies that mainly focuses on giving online services to connect people seamlessly. Krook did not imagine that writing about the situation the world currently faces, and its correlation to technology could cost him his job.

Krook also mentioned that his post tackled generalities and presented a view of the increasing dependence on the digital world. The post did not mention any companies, individuals, or even the Australian government or its existing rules, prohibitions, or policies.

Josh Krook also defended that his post did not conflict with his then-current status as a civil servant. Three months after his April blogpost, Krook was invited to a meeting that included his superiors.

(Photo : (Photo by Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images))WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 10: Sen.Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks about a graphic related to free speech at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on April 10, 2019 in Washington, DC. The Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee is questioning whether large tech companies are biased towards conservatives.

Krook's superiors mentioned that his blog post could potentially damage the government's relationship and image with the present frontrunners in the technological industry. The blogpost he publicized would be easily found by the technology companies and will refuse to work with their country.

He was then told that his article would be fine if he did not become impartial and wrote "good things" about the companies he generalized. Later, Krook was asked to take down the article, which he did initially by contacting the blog editor.

Krook realized that what he was asked to is to go against his ethics and principles as a writer. Despite his neutral side and take on the article, he was still criticized and asked to remove the post. With this happening, Josh Krook decided to quit his job and campaigned about the form of censorship that he experienced.

(Photo : Unsplash)

The wordcensorshipis mainly associated with the 'free press' or freedom of the press movements that aim to remove the liberty of a journalist or a news agency in delivering the news.

Censorship is done in lots of elements found on the mass media, and some are not threats to freedom. Censorship can be used toblursuggestive and 'R'-rated images or clips and inappropriate curse words that are uttered. These censorship types help protect the young and innocent audience from the vulgar objects in the media.

However,censorshipto the "free press," which are protected by some state policies and the constitution is a direct suppression and attack against the liberty of delivering various types of information to the public. Censorship in the press has caused several news agencies and journalists harm in doing their jobs.

The suppression is a form of controlling the press and shaping the audience's opinions and views using powerful mediums.

2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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Government Employee Slams Australian Government for Censoring His 'Blog on How COVID-19 Helped Tech Compa - Tech Times

FCC chairman Ajit Pai has told a member of the House that the agency is generally not in the business of dictating what viewers can and can't see.

Pai was responding to a letter from Rep. Nydia Velzquez (D-N.Y.), who was concerned about a TV show, La Comey, airing on Mega TV in Puerto Rico and containing what she called "a pattern of xenophobic and racist remarks."

Velzquez said the show was making direct attacks on the immigrant community and racist remarks and asked the FCC to "review the practices employed by this television show," adding: "I believe the FCC must ensure that any programs requiring FCC licenses do not unfairly target minorities or any protected classes under the law."

The show has drawn criticism before and there are renewed calls for its cancellation.

Related: FCC's Pai Says Free Speech is Under Siege

Pai responded that, under the protections of the First Amendment and Section 326 of the Communications Act, and with the exception in limited circumstance related obscene, indecent, or profane programming, broadcasters have discretion to determine what content to air on their stations, even if that programming could be objectionable to some viewers.

He said that means that the FCC is generally prohibited from censoring content or dictating to licensees what the stations can or cannot air.

Pai pointed out that viewers can reach out to the station or licensee directly with their issues.

View original post here:

Pai: FCC Not Generally in Business of Censorship - Multichannel News

The major broadcast and cable networks were mighty friendly to Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden and the splashy national convention which provided his debut in the political arena last week.

Here is the question that follows: Will media coverage of the Republican National Convention be as generous, or will the networks end up censoring President Trump and his campaign message, or compromising the coverage itself?

The liberal media is already rustling with possibilities.

America is experiencing asymmetric lying because President Trumps campaign is much more dishonest, more frequently, than Joe Bidens campaign. News outlets have to acknowledge this truth imbalance, CNN media analyst Brian Stelter warns in a tweet.

Should TV networks air the Republican National Convention in full? he asked, suggesting that broadcasters consider cutting away if they believe the Republicans are offering disinformation to the voting public.

A network decision to stop covering the GOP gathering because of perceived disinformation could be a real moment of truth in the media business.

This week is a test for those in the television news business: Are they still trying to deliver news, which means letting their audience actually witness important events for themselves (albeit with analysis and commentary from the networks)? Or are they in the well-only-show-what-liberals-want-us-to-show business? Last week, CNN and MSNBC let their audiences see roughly 90% of the Democratic video show that stood in for this years national convention, without any meaningful interruptions, writes Rich Noyes, research director for the Media Research Center.

If those organizations are still in the news business, thats exactly how much of the Republican Convention youll see on those networks, too, he says.

The conservative press watchdog found ABC, CBS and NBC showed viewers very large percentages of the Democratic fare. Mr. Noyes now wonders whether they will treat the Republican National Convention equally.

By Thursday night, well see whos left in the news business, and whos abandoned it for the political advertising business, Mr. Noyes says.

6,000 MILES

Let us pause and consider the Question of the Day for Joe Biden, posed daily by Donald J. Trump for President, the presidents official campaign entity. And here it is:

Last week during your convention, President Trump traveled more than 6,600 miles to speak to voters in states across the nation, which is more miles than you have traveled in total since March 7. During the Republican National Convention this week, do you have any plans to leave your basement and actually meet voters?

This inquiry was made on Monday just as the Republican National Convention got rolling.

AOC HAS A SAY

Its not a campaign video, but it could be. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has released an 18-minute, on-camera showcase of her beauty routine, published online Monday by Vogue magazine which has yet to do a feature on first lady Melania Trump, a former fashion model with global credentials.

The video, meanwhile, has already racked up more than 1 million views on YouTube.

The reason why I think its so important to share these things is that, first of all, femininity has power, and in politics there is so much criticism and nitpicking about how women and femme people present ourselves, the New York Democrat explained.

Femme designates a distinctly feminine style that can be adopted by people of any sexual orientation, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Just being a woman is quite politicized in Washington. Theres this really false idea that if you care about makeup or if your interests are in beauty and fashion, that thats somehow frivolous. But I actually think these are some of the most substantive decisions that we make and we make them every morning, the lawmaker said.

She also revealed her color of choice for a bold lip is Stilas Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso, a bright red.

One of the things that I had realized is that when youre always running around, sometimes the best way to really look put together is a bold lip. I will wear a red lip when I want confidence, she notes.

If Im going to spend an hour in the morning doing my glamour, its not going to be because Im afraid of what some Republican photo is going to look like. Its because I feel like it, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said.

NOW THERES A THOUGHT

The Republican National Convention will be a four-day celebration of President Trump and a visceral four-day condemnation of Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his party, says Fox News, in a handy and succinct description of the weeks big event.

And what does this say about Mr. Trump?

It will be his greatest performance ever, declares Lucianne Goldberg, founder of the news aggregation site Lucianne.com.

POLL DU JOUR

55% of U.S. adults plan to get a coronavirus vaccine shot when it becomes available; 54% of Republicans, 54% of independents and 66% of Democrats agree.

58% of Whites, 49% of Hispanics and 41% of Blacks, plus 59% of men and 51% of women also agree.

26% overall do not plan to get the vaccine shot; 37% of Republicans, 26% of independents and 15% of Democrats agree.

24% of Whites, 29% of Hispanics and 34% of Blacks, plus 23% of men and 29% of women also agree.

20% overall dont know whether they will get the shot; 18% of Republicans, 20% of independents and 19% of Democrats agree.

18% of Whites, 23% of Hispanics and 25% of Blacks, plus 18% of men and 21% of women also agree.

Source: A Fox News poll of 1,000 registered U.S. voters conducted Aug. 9-12 and released Thursday.

Helpful information to [emailprotected]

Excerpt from:

Inside the Beltway: Censoring the GOP convention is part of the media plan - Washington Times

By Kevin Reed 22 August 2020

In a significant escalation of political censorship on its platform, Facebook published an update on Wednesday to its Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy that labels left-wing and anarchist organizations as violent and falsely amalgamates them with fascist militia groups and right-wing extremists associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory.

In a Newsroom blog post entitled, An Update to How We Address Movements and Organizations Tied to Violence, Facebook says that it is taking action against Pages, Groups and Instagram accounts tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations and QAnon.

While Facebook says it already removes content calling for or advocating violence and bans organizations and individuals that proclaim a violent mission, the blog post says that we have seen growing movements that, while not directly organizing violence, have celebrated violent acts, shown that they have weapons and suggest they will use them, or have individual followers with patterns of violent behavior.

That the expanded Facebook definition of dangerous people and groups is aimed at stifling speech on the social media platformwith 2.7 billion monthly active users worldwideis shown by the fact that its policy now includes organizations and movements that have demonstrated significant risks to public safety but do not meet the rigorous criteria to be designated as a dangerous organization and banned from having any presence on our platform.

Facebook then outlines the actions it will take to suppress content from those it deems dangerous and violent but do not fit the rigorous definition of either description. These measures may include removal of accounts from Facebook and Instagram, limiting recommendations, reduced ranking in News Feed, reduced visibility in Search, removal from Related Hashtags on Instagram and prohibition from advertising and fundraising.

As Facebook is listing off the many techniques it utilizes to ban, delete and suppress contentwhich it refers to in corporate-speak as remove, reduce and informit becomes clear that these methods are being perfected in the service of political censorship against oppositional, left-wing and socialist views that are increasing in popularity and pose a threat to the capitalist foundations of the social media giant. Facebook currently has a Wall Street value of $762 billion and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has accumulated a personal wealth of $100 billion.

The Newsroom blog post goes on to say that Facebook has already removed over 790 groups, 100 Pages and 1,500 ads tied to QAnon and additionally imposed restrictions on over 1,950 Groups and 440 Pages on Facebook and over 10,000 accounts on Instagram. Lumping anarchists and left-wing groups in with the far right, Facebook says, For militia organizations and those encouraging riots, including some who may identify as Antifa, weve initially removed over 980 groups, 520 Pages and 160 ads from Facebook. Weve also restricted over 1,400 hashtags related to these groups and organizations on Instagram.

Among the accounts of anti-fascist and left-wing activists that have been shut down in the present Facebook dragnet are the following:

There is no question that by including such groups in its list of dangerous and violent individuals and organizations, Facebook is supporting the drive by the US political establishment and the US Justice Department to equate opposition within the working class and among young people with the violence of alt-right, neo-Nazi and fascistic militia individuals and groups.

The recent history of ideologically motivated violence in the US exposes Facebooks false identification of these groups with the extreme right. According to a report by Natasha Lennard in the Intercept, It bears repeating, ad nauseam, that the far right has carried out 329 murders in the last three decades; none have been attributed to antifa. Between 2009 and 2018, white supremacist and far-right extremists were responsible for 73 percent of extremist murders in the U.S. And thats not even to mention the state-sanctioned, racist killings carried out by the police.

The effort to label the left as violent has also intensified over the past three months during the nationwide and global mass protests against police violence and repression that was sparked by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day. Both the Democrats and Republicans along with the corporate media have slandered these demonstrations as violent and riots and, as Trump has stated numerous times, part of the radical left and anarchist takeover of American cities that must be put down with law and order.

In June, at the height of the George Floyd protests, Attorney General William Barr created a task force dedicated to counter anti-government extremists who engage in indefensible acts of violence designed to undermine public order. In his directive to all Justice Department law enforcement representatives, Barr wrote, Among other lawless conduct, these extremists have violently attacked police officers and other government officials, destroyed public and private property, and threatened innocent people.

Furthermore, Barrs memo said that the acts of violence came from extremists of all persuasions including the extremer right-wing Boogaloo militia advocates who have engaged in murder and other criminal acts along with those who identify as Antifa on the left.

Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz (Republican, Texas) chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on August 4 where he claimed, Across the country, were seeing horrific violence, were seeing our country torn apart. Violent anarchists and Marxists are exploiting protests to transform them into riots and direct assaults on the lives and safety of their fellow Americans.

This position is not unique to Barr, Trump and the Republican Party. On the fifth night of the George Floyd protests in cities across the US that have been devastated by decades of attacks on living standards and social programs, the future Democratic Party nominee for President in the 2020 elections, Joseph Biden, denounced protesters for burning down communities and carrying out needless destruction.

While police and federal agents were beating protesters and National Guard troops were being called up and mobilized against peaceful demonstrations, Biden blamed the public for the decay in the cities, saying, Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not the American response. In late July, Biden reiterated his stance, calling for the prosecution of arsonists and anarchists.

These same sentiments have been expressed by Representative James Clyburn (Democrat, South Carolina) and Democratic Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot who, according to the New York Times, after police assaulted protestors calling for an end to police violence, said, To those who engaged in this criminal behavior, lets be clear: We are coming for you.

The purpose and results of the recent closed-door meetings between the Silicon Valley tech monopolies and the White House in the preparations for the US presidential election in November are becoming obvious. As reported by the WSWS, representatives of nine major tech firmsincluding Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Redditmet with US government law enforcement and national intelligence agencies on August 12 to discuss election security with little or no information reported to the public following the online gathering.

The endless references by Facebook and the others to those who identify as antifa as violent and dangerous are proof of the completely reactionary character of the entire amalgamation of left-wing and anarchist groups with far-right extremists who have actually committed acts of violence and killed people while proclaiming support for the Trump administration.

A Google search of antifa will only yield a Wikipedia entry for the name. There is no official website for an organization with this name in the US, Europe or anywhere else in the world. While there are clearly individuals who identify with the message of anti-fascism, the claim that an organization called Antifa is coordinating acts of extreme violence against the US government is entirely fabricated.

Instead, what the ruling establishmentof which the social media monopolies are a critical elementfears more than anything is that masses of workers and young people will break free from the two-party political system and begin to organize independently of the entire capitalist political setup on the basis of the fight for socialism. The ever expanding scope of political censorship on social media and on the internet more broadly is certain grow in the weeks leading up to the November 3 election and in its aftermath as the US ruling class seeks to suppress all signs of opposition.

The author also recommends:

Big tech firms meet with US national security agencies in advance of November elections [14 August 2020]

US Attorney General Barr gives fascistic tirade against Antifa, Black Lives Matter [11 August 2020]

Trump threatens to close social media platforms after Twitter puts fact-check warnings on his tweets [28 May 2020]

Google is blocking the World Socialist Web Site from search results.

To fight this blacklisting:

Originally posted here:

Facebook censors anti-fascist and anarchist groups, falsely linking them with extreme-right violence - WSWS

NEW YORK Video app TikTok is suing the Trump Administration over its efforts to ban the popular Chinese-owned service over national-security concerns.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinas ByteDance, insisted Monday that it is not a national-security threat and that the government is acting without evidence or due process. The company filed suit Monday in federal court in California against the Commerce Department, President Donald Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, saying that it sought to prevent the government from impermissibly banning TikTok.

President Donald Trump has issued two executive orders in August, first a sweeping but unspecified ban on anytransaction with ByteDance, to take effect within 45 days. He then ordered ByteDance to sell assets used to support TikTok in the U.S.

Over past year, TikTok has tried to put distance between its app, which it says has 100 million U.S. users, and its Chinese owners. It installed a former top Disney executive as its American CEO and named two other Americans chief security officer and general counsel. TikTok has also said it is willing to sell its U.S. operations and has held talks with Microsoft with to buy parts of its English-language app. Other companies and investors have reportedly expressed interest as well.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have shared concerns about TikTok that ranged from its vulnerability to censorship and misinformation campaigns to the safety of user data and childrens privacy. But the administration has provided no specific evidence that TikTok has made U.S. users data available to the Chinese government.

Instead, officials point to the hypothetical threat that lies in the Chinese governments ability to demand cooperation from Chinese companies. TikTok says it has not shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government and would not do so, and that it does not censor videos at the request of Chinese authorities.

In excerpts of from its forthcoming complaint, TikTok said that it has protected U.S. user data by storing it in the U.S. and Singapore, not China, and by erecting software barriers that help ensure that TikTok stores its U.S. user data separately from the user data of other ByteDance products.

The company says Trumps Aug. 6 order banning TikTok with no notice or opportunity to be heard violated its Fifth Amendment due-process rights. It also says that the order is not acting based on a bona fide national emergency and seeks to ban activities that have not been found to be an unusual and extraordinary threat, which it says is required by the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Trump cited as one of the bases for his order.

Getting a court to overturn the governments determination that it is a national-security threat would be very difficult, said Christian Davis, a Washington lawyer with Akin Gump whose practice focuses on foreign investment and international trade.

The administration has significant discretion with national-security issues, he said. While due-process claims might be easier to argue, its not clear what TikTok could gain. He said the company could possibly win a delay in the orders implementation or force a rewrite of the order to address concerns.

See original here:

TikTok sues Trump over his pending order to ban its app - KPQ

The BBC will stage orchestral versions of Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory at this years Last Night Of The Promsfollowing reports that it was considering their removal.

Producers were reportedly in discussions about scrapping the two British anthems from the setlist because of the songs perceived associations with colonialism and slavery [via The Sunday Times].

But Sky News today (August 24) confirmed that the BBC will include the anthems for its annual live concert series, which will run this year at Londons Royal Albert Hall without an audience due to coronavirus pandemic. Lyrics for both songs will not be sung, however, and orchestral-only versions will be performed instead.

Last Night Of The Proms at Royal Albert Hall. CREDIT: Rob Ball/Redferns

A spokesperson confirmed to Sky News that, with much reduced musical forces, the Proms will curate a concert that includes familiar, patriotic elements such as Jerusalem and the national anthem, including performances from soprano Golda Schultz and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Youll Never Walk Alone will be added to the programme for the purposes of capturing the mood of this unique time, the spokesperson added.

The news comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnsons spokesman intervened in the row to argue that songs should not be removed from the event. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden agreed, and Tweeted that he had raised concerns with the BBC.

The discussion comes in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, which has been heightened in recent monthsfollowing the death of George Floyd, anAfrican American man who was killed in Minneapolis in May after a white police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes.

Dalia Stasevska, who is conducting this years Last Night Of The Proms, is keen to modernise the evenings repertoire and reduce the patriotic elements. Dalia is a big supporter of Black Lives Matter and thinks a ceremony without an audience is the perfect moment to bring change, a BBC source toldThe Sunday Times.

The concert is due to take place on September 12 without an audience.

See more here:

Last Night Of The Proms to censor Rule Britannia with instrumental-only performance at this years event - NME

Fast-food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken have censored their famous slogan and told customers worldwide to forget it - at least for now.

Fans of the Colonels fried chicken already know the recipe of 11 secret herbs and spices is Finger Lickin Good, but KFC is urging their customers to avoid licking their fingers during the current coronavirus pandemic.

The slogan has been in use for 64 years and is globally recognised, however it will be paused in advertising around the world effective immediately.

The famous slogan is being censored due to the coronavirus pandemic. Source: Supplied

In a media release, KFC said the wording doesnt feel quite right.

We find ourselves in a unique situationhaving an iconic slogan that doesnt quite fit in our current environment. While we are pausing the use of Its Finger Lickin Good, rest assured the food craved by Aussies isnt changing one bit, KFC Australias Chief Marketing Officer Kristi Woolrych said.

In all seriousness, we think its important to take a moment to have a little fun during these tough times, but rest assured we'll still be providing Finger Lickin Good chicken and a responsible experience for our amazing KFC family and customers, here and around the world.

KFC says the slogan will be back - when the time is right.

The fast-food giant announced the slogan will be paused worldwide. Source: Supplied

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Why KFC is censoring their slogan around the world - Yahoo News Australia