Skip to main content

Netflix condemned for pulling anti-Saudi comedy

NETFLIX faced condemnation today for “facilitating” Saudi censorship of the media after it removed an episode of Patriot Act from availability in the kingdom.

US comedian Hasan Minhaj had attacked Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the episode, taking aim at the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the war on Yemen.

“It blows my mind that it took the killing of a journalist for everyone to go: ‘Oh, I guess he’s not really a reformer’,” Mr Minhaj says in the programme.

Mr Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in the country’s Istanbul consulate last year. The US Senate has said it believes the Crown Prince gave the order though the White House, like Downing Street, affects to believe Riyadh’s assurances that he did not.

Amnesty International said that Netflix was “in danger of facilitating the kingdom’s zero-tolerance policy on freedom of expression.”

OWNED BY OUR READERS

We're a reader-owned co-operative, which means you can become part of the paper too by buying shares in the People’s Press Printing Society.

 

 

Become a supporter

Fighting fund

You've Raised:£ 13,288
We need:£ 4,712
3 Days remaining
Donate today