House Chamber Getting Kevlar-Reinforced Bulletproof Doors

The House of Representatives is becoming a "massive safe room for members" with the addition of bulletproof doors, according to Axios.

The doors, which will be reinforced with kevlar, are part of a massive security upgrade in response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, where officers inside the House chamber held protesters at bay by pointing their guns at them after they broke windows in the doors, according to the report.

More via Axios:

An Axios reporter leaving the Capitol on Wednesday night saw workers removing doors on one of the double-doored entrances to the gallery one level above the floor of the chamber. Some members huddled there on Jan. 6.

Workers revealed the new doors being installed would be fortified with kevlar — the same synthetic material used in bulletproof vests and military helmets.

The House currently is on recess for two more weeks, and the workers said the modifications will continue beyond the members' return. There are five sets of doors directly onto the floor and 15 into the gallery.

No other details were immediately available from the Architect of the Capitol, which maintains the historic building.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/house-chamber-getting-kevlar-reinforced-bulletproof-doors

India Denies Reports Claiming New Delhi Banned Exports of COVID-19 Vaccines to UK, Other Countries

Several media reports on Wednesday claimed that India had put on hold the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to the UK and several other countries in an attempt to increase its inoculation drive amid a massive surge in infections in the country. India recorded around 59,000 cases in last 24 hours in a five-month record increase.

India has categorically rejected the reports published by western media outlets claiming New Delhi has imposed a ban on coronavirus vaccine exports as it is facing the second wave of the pandemic. New Delhi will continue to supply vaccines in a phased manner, a government source told Sputnik.

"We had stated that keeping in view the domestic requirements of the phased rollout, India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner. This position remains unchanged. We have not imposed any ban on exports of vaccines unlike many other countries", the source added.

The government official maintained that the Indian government remains committed to helping the world with vaccines.

"Given our current manufacturing capacity and requirements of national vaccination programmes, there may be a need to calibrate the supply schedules from time to time. All stakeholders will have to work together to adjust the schedules as required. Only by such cooperation, we can collectively deal with the ongoing pandemic", the official underlined.

https://sputniknews.com/world/202103261082450780-india-denies-reports-claiming-new-delhi-banned-exports-of-covid-19-vaccines-to-uk-other-countries/

Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook Will ‘Honor’ Oversight Board’s Decision on Donald Trump’s Account

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a hearing Thursday that he will “honor” the potential decision by the company’s oversight board to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Facebook account. The Facebook “Supreme Court” is packed with anti-Trump and progressive individuals.

Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) asked Zuckerberg if he would respect the Facebook oversight board’s decision to reinstate Trump’s Facebook account if the group, nicknamed the “Facebook Supreme Court,” were to rule in Trump’s favor.

“You created the Facebook oversight board as a way to help hold Facebook accountable; they are currently looking at Facebook’s decision to remove President Trump’s Facebook account,” Long asked. “If the oversight board decides that Facebook should have left President Trump’s account up, what will you do?”

Zuckerberg said, “Congressman, we will respect the decision of the oversight board, and if they tell us that former President Trump’s account should be reinstated, then we will honor that.”

Long then asked how Zuckerberg will ensure that the oversight, which is comprised of people across the world, how they will make their decision with respect to America’s tradition of free speech.

Zuckerberg responded, saying that the members were allegedly chosen due to their respect for free speech and to “balance” human rights and free expression.

Breitbart News’ Allum Bokhari noted that the first 20 members of the Facebook “Supreme Court comprise of anti-Trump and progressive figures.

Bokhari wrote:

… members of the Oversight Board include Helle Thorning-Schmidt, former Prime Minister of Denmark for the left-wing Social Democrat party, Afia Asantewaa Asare-Kyei, a “human rights expert” who is part of George Soros’ “Open Society” network, Pamela Karlan, who worked in the civil rights division of President Obama’s Justice Department, and Evelyn Aswad, who served as director of human rights in Hillary Clinton’s State Department.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of Congress’s most vocal critics of big tech, condemned the Facebook oversight board in May 2020.

“This is how powerful @Facebook is, how much speech it controls, how much of our time & attention it claims: it now has a special censorship committee to decide what speech can stay & what should go. Facebook basically making the case it should be broken up,” he wrote.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2021/03/25/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-will-honor-oversight-boards-decision-on-donald-trumps-account/

Dem Rep. Schakowsky: ‘We’re Going to Regulate’ Tech Companies, and There Must Be ‘Limitations’ on User Content

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” House Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chairwoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) discussed the subcommittee’s hearing with the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter and said that the hearing’s purpose was to send the message to tech companies “That we’re going to regulate. We’re going to legislate.” And that there “have to be some limitations, not just on advertising.”

Schakowsky said of the hearing, “So, the purpose really was, from my point of view, to make sure that the tech companies understood that the day of self-regulation has really ended. And that, now, it is time for us to regulate, and that we intend to. That we’re going to regulate. We’re going to legislate.”

After Schakowsky discussed holding platforms liable for false ads, host Chris Hayes asked about user content on social media and “what those sort of content moderation policies look like, and the degree to which the government is specifically prescribing them?”

Schakowsky responded, “Yes, and I — but I do think that there are — have to be some limitations, not just on advertising. But the kind of thing that — I mean, they have — Facebook has housed QAnon for many, many years, and certainly, on the 6 of January. That was coordinated. Well, people died.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/03/25/dem-rep-schakowsky-were-going-to-regulate-tech-companies-and-there-must-be-limitations-on-user-content/

GOP Rep. Carter: We Need ‘Transparency’ from Big Tech Companies on Censorship Policies

Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA), ahead of Thursday’s congressional hearing involving big tech companies, pushed for “transparency” from the likes of Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

Carter emphasized the need on FNC’s “Fox & Friends” to know how the social media giants are implementing their censorship policies on their platforms.

“This will be the first time we’ve heard from Google. We have had Facebook and Twitter before us in this committee, and we talked to them before, and I have to tell you I’m deeply disappointed because I made it clear at the last hearing — a number of us did — that what we don’t want to have to regulate you guys. I don’t want to stifle innovation, but if you don’t clear this up, we are going to have to. And it seems to go in one ear and out the other because they haven’t cleared it up,” Carter outlined. “I think we’re going to have questions about censorship, I think we’re going to have questions about illicit use of these platforms, there will be questions about mental health. I have a special interest in that because I think there’s a big problem with particularly our students in the realm of mental health right now.”

He added, “You know, we want to know, particularly in the way of censorship, what their policies are and how they are being implemented and how the different policies are being implemented among the different platforms. We need some consistency here. There’s no question about it. But more so, we need transparency.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2021/03/25/gop-rep-carter-we-need-transparency-from-big-tech-companies-on-censorship-policies/