Netflix pulls an episode of ‘Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj’ in Saudi Arabia after govt. files complaint

The second episode of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj criticized Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi Arabia government’s reaction to the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The contradictory claims and denials that surrounded the story drew angry reactions from the public and this is what the episode wanted to center on.

Minhaj joked on the show that this was “the most unbelievable cover story since Blake Shelton won sexiest man alive.” But it seems the Saudi government wasn’t in on the joke. The government reportedly told Netflix the episode violated the country’s cybercrime laws and asked for it to be removed. The cited law effectively states that criticizing the Saudi government through any kind of digital medium is a criminal act. The streaming service complied and took it off the service in Saudi Arabia. It is, however, still viewable elsewhere. The clip is also still watchable on the series’ YouTube channel, even in Saudi Arabia. It’s unclear at this point if Google/Alphabet (parent company of YouTube) was also contacted about the clip.

As expected, there are negative reactions to this report, Washington Post’s global opinions editor, Karen Attiah, calls the move “quite outrageous.” While Jillian C. York, a director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the Financial Times, this is “an affront to freedom of expression.” Netflix, in a statement, said, “We strongly support artistic freedom and removed this episode only in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request—and to comply with local law.”

This isn’t the first time Netflix took out episodes to comply to a foreign government’s request. According to NPR, Singapore has objected to three Netflix shows—Disjointed, Cooking on High, and The Legend of 420—because of its supposed positive portrayals of drug use, which is heavily restricted in the city-state.

Source: The Verge