Netflix has pulled one of Hasan Minhaj’s episodes of “Patriot Act” after receiving complaints from the Saudi Arabian government.
According to The Financial Times, the political/comedy show was critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
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Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission asked Netflix to remove the episode, claiming it violated their anti-cyber crime law. In a statement to The Financial Times, Netflix says they agreed to “comply with local law.”
In the episode, Minhaj says, “Now would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia. And I mean that as a Muslim, and as an American.”
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He later added, “To those that continue to work with [Mohammad bin Salman], just know that with every deal you close you are simply helping entrench an absolute monarch under the guise of progress. Because ultimately MBS is not modernizing Saudi Arabia. The only thing he’s modernizing is Saudi dictatorship.”
After hearing the news, Minhaj took to Twitter and slammed the Saudi law.
“Clearly, the best way to stop people from watching something is to ban it, make it trend online, and then leave it up on YouTube,” he wrote.
Adding, “Let’s not forget that the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is happening in Yemen right now.”
On the mid-season premiere of the show, available to stream on Sunday, Feb. 10, Hasan addressed the situation.
“This isn’t about just censoring one episode of a TV show. It’s about the precedent,” Minhaj told viewers. “Because as tech companies keep expanding, they’re going to keep running into more vague censorship laws — laws that can allow governments to pull any content at any time. Ultimately, [Saudi Arabia] doesn’t care about ‘immoral content’ that ‘impinges on religious values. They’re mad that a Muslim is airing out their dirty laundry.”
