Gulf states demanded the removal of immoral content on Netflix

According to Saudi Arabia’s media regulator, Gulf Arab governments have ordered that US streaming giant Netflix to be removed over immoral content and its effects to “Islamic and social norms” in the area.

It did not describe the content, but did state that it includes children’s content. In a program about the problem, Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya TV presented blurred-out animated shows of the two girls cuddling.

According to a statement issued by the General Commission for Audiovisual Media in Riyadh, the video violates media standards in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait.

If Netflix continues to show the video, “appropriate legal steps will be taken,” it added, without going into further detail.

Netflix did not immediately reply to a request.

“Pay a monthly subscription to Netflix, and your child gets to watch this immoral stuff,” the voice-over adds as a blurred clip from “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” with menacing music in the background plays. It cited social media campaigns demanding for Netflix to be banned.

Gulf governments have stated that their complaint with the streaming service is about immoral content that breaches social standards, although Saudi Arabia has previously sought the removal of politically sensitive content as well. In 2019, Netflix complied with the kingdom by deleting a mocking episode of “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj.”

Other global media corporations have been less responsive to efforts from Gulf Arab regimes to ban information that violates their social values. American film companies that formerly agreed with Arab censors’ demands for edits to their films have recently refused, resulting in certain films being banned in Arab nations.