Netflix Comic Video Ban: Since When Did Netflix Take Marching Orders from Saudi Arabia?
Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) both hate being mocked by comedians. People like Trump and MBS want to be feared, not laughed at. The difference is MBS appears to be more effective than Trump at silencing comedians who take comedic aim at him. But what makes this so disturbing is that it’s an American company, Netflix, that helped MBS silence Muslim American comedian Hasan Minhaj.
There’s no dispute that Netflix pulled a recent episode of its comedic series “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” at the request of the government of Saudi Arabia. A Netflix spokesperson told CNBC Wednesday morning: “We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request — and to comply with local law.” (Netflix should have added “LOL” after its words that “we strongly support artistic freedom worldwide.”)
Reportedly an official request was sent to Netflix from the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission, claiming that this episode of the comedy show “allegedly violated anti-cybercrime law.”