Netflix has removed the second episode of "Patriot Act" starring Hasan Minhaj from its platform in Saudi Arabia after receiving a request from the Information and Communications Technology Commission, according to reports from the Financial Times.
Why Netflix forced to remove the episode?
The episode focused on America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year. On the issue, Minhaj said, “Now would be a good time to reevaluate America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, and I say this as a Muslim and as an American.” It should be noted that this was said after criticism was leveled at Saudi Arabia’s role in the war in Yemen, while Silicon Valley was also criticized for “swimming in Saudi cash.” Essentially, the latter comment refers to Saudi Arabia’s aggressive strategic investment in foreign technology companies, such as Uber, as well as Japan’s financial support for the SoftBank Vision Fund, which invests billions in companies around the world, including those in the United States.
The reason the Information and Communications Technology Commission requested the removal of an episode from Netflix for the platform in Saudi Arabia is because it violated Article 6 of the kingdom's anti-cybercrime law. This article states that producing, preparing, transmitting or storing material that violates public order, religious values, public morals and privacy through information networks or the internet is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
However, many civil liberties organizations have criticized the Saudi Arabian government for using the aforementioned law simply because it wants to practice censorship.
On the other hand, regarding Netflix, the company defended its decision not to remove the episode, as it supports freedom of speech globally and the reason it removed the episode is because it received a legitimate request that was consistent with local law.
Unfortunately, it is unknown how many times to date, Netflix has been forced to remove episodes from its service due to government requests from various countries. Unlike other major tech companies, such as Apple, Google , and Facebook, Netflix does not publish information about government requests for content it broadcasts.
Although the episode of "Patriot Act" with Hasan Minhaj has already been removed from Netflix, Saudi Arabian residents can watch it on YouTube, but even if it is taken down from there, they will definitely be able to use a VPN to watch it.
To watch the episode, click here.
