Netflix has been threatened with legal action by several Persian Gulf nations if it continues to air material that ‘contradicts’ Islam, and Saudi official media said that the offending programming mostly consisted of programs featuring sexual minorities.
The six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with its headquarters in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, and the Saudi media regulator jointly released a statement that did not directly name any particular item, instead referring to anything that ‘contradicts Islamic and societal principles.’ According to the statement, the platform was asked to delete this content, including stuff oriented to children.
The Gulf Cooperation Council is made up of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman. If the platform is following the rules, regional authorities will check to see if it is, and if it is, appropriate legal action will be taken if illegal content is broadcast once more. Netflix didn’t respond right away. The GCC did not specify what material was offensive, but a report on the Saudi state-run Al-Ekhbariya news channel denounced “movies and series for youngsters with sequences encouraging homosexuality under a theatrical cover via Netflix.” These were extremely unpleasant and upsetting clips, the lawyer said in an on-air interview, for our children, grandchildren, and the following generation.
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A different episode of the animated series Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous was broadcast on Al-Ekhbariya. The channel blurred the faces of the two female characters as they shared a kiss. A self-described ‘family and educational counselor’ was interviewed by the station and claimed that the nation was experiencing a ‘censorship crisis’ and that inappropriate content was ‘sneaking into our homes.’ Gulf nations and US film distributors have frequently disagreed over sexual minorities-related material, particularly in movies.
The Disney animated picture Lightyear, which features a lesbian kiss, was banned in the United Arab Emirates in June. Although movies with explicit content are sometimes chopped or altered, the UAE is one of the freest nations in the Gulf. In April, Saudi Arabia, which only began operating movie theatres in 2017, requested that Disney remove ‘LGBTQ implications’ from the Marvel superhero movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
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Disney refused, hence the movie was not shown in the kingdom. As part of a campaign against homosexuality, which is potentially punishable by death in Saudi Arabia, officials were seen on state-run television in June removing rainbow-colored toys and apparel from stores in the capital. Targeted items in the raids included pencil bags, skirts, and bows in rainbow colors, the majority of which appeared to be made for young children.
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