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Disney once again bows to Chinese censorship by removing an episode of The Simpsons

2023-02-07T12:32:13.357Z


After making an episode mentioning Tiananmen inaccessible in Hong Kong, the Disney+ platform no longer offers the one evoking forced labor in the country.


An episode of The Simpsons

cartoon ,

which references "forced labor camps" in China, can't be found on the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong, where artistic production is coming under increasing censorship.

Hong Kong once boasted significant artistic and cultural freedoms compared to mainland China of which it is a special administrative region.

But since the 2019 protests, authorities have cracked down on dissent in the financial hub, including stepping up censorship of films.

The second episode of the 34th season of the American cartoon included the line: “

Contemplate the wonders of China.

Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones, and romance

.”

Read alsoFantastic Beasts 3 censored in China for the romance between Dumbledore and Grindelwald

One Angry Lisa

, which first aired on the platform last October, could not be viewed on Disney+ using a connection in Hong Kong but is available elsewhere, AFP confirmed.

It's the second time in three years that the Hong Kong version of the streaming service has dropped an episode of The

Simpsons

satirizing China.

The previously censored episode showed The Simpsons visiting Beijing's Tiananmen Square - the site of the deadly 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters - and finding a sign there that reads: "

At this site, in 1989, nothing happens. has passed

".

Contacted by AFP, the Hong Kong government and Disney did not immediately comment.

In 2021, Hong Kong passed censorship laws banning shows that might violate a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on the city.

Since then, directors have had to cut parts of their films, while other productions have been banned from broadcasting.

A Taiwanese documentary about female migrant workers was removed from the lineup of a Hong Kong film festival in October after its producers refused to remove a scene depicting a protest.

Censorship Act

In the same month, a screening of the Batman franchise film

The Dark Knight

was

also canceled after censors deemed "

the level of violence to be inappropriate

" and denied that the decision was politically motivated.

The censorship law does not cover streaming services, but authorities have warned that video-on-demand platforms are nonetheless subject to the national security law which concerns crimes of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

In recent years, Hollywood has been accused of pandering to China's censorship regime to profit from this multi-billion dollar market.

In 2020, Disney was criticized for filming the remake of Mulan in the Xinjiang region (far west), with local government agencies thanked in the credits.

Beijing has long denied accusations of torture and forced labor in Xinjiang, but a recent United Nations report found the claims credible.

Human rights groups say more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are being held in what the US State Department and others say amounts to genocide.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2023-02-07

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