Netflix censors criticism of Saudi crown prince, Yemen war

This video says about itself:

Update: Saudi Arabia | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix

9 December 2018

Hasan Minhaj further dissects the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and examines the connection between American weapons and the mass starvation and destruction occurring in the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

Translated from Dutch site Joop.nl today:

Netflix censors broadcast by Hasan Minhaj as requested by Saudi Arabia

Streaming platform Netflix has taken an episode of the satirical and socially critical program ‘Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj’ offline at the urging of Saudi Arabia, the Financial Times reports. In the broadcast, the comedian Minhaj fiercely criticizes the Saudi crown prince, his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the dubious role that the regime plays in the war in Yemen.

Netflix confirms that they have removed the episode after a request from the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission which claims that the broadcast would supposedly violate ‘cyber-crime’ laws. These laws are used more often to silence critics. Activists who speak out against the government or their laws on social media are often sentenced and locked up for so-called cybercrimes. Article 6 of the law states that “production, preparation, broadcasting or storage of material that threatens public order, religious values, public standards and privacy” is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $ 800,000 fine.

The Netflix broadcast [by Minhaj] can still be seen on YouTube.

Let us hope it will stay there. I cannot be sure. As there has been censorship on YouTube, eg, of a German anti-fascist video.

An episode of “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” has been removed by Netflix after Saudi Arabia expressed complaints.

SAUDI BAN HELPS MINHAJ Hasan Minhaj responded to Netflix complying with Saudi Arabia’s demands to block an episode of his talk show, saying on Wednesday that the move has only made the episode more popular. [HuffPost]

Netflix is currently presenting to its worldwide audience the virulently anti-Semitic television series, Trotsky, which was originally produced by the Russian state in 2017: here.