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Netflix has been threatened with legal action by a collection of Persian Gulf governments if it continues to broadcast content that “contradicts” Islam, according to Saudi official media, with the offending material centered on series depicting sexual minorities.
The Saudi media regulator and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), based in Riyadh, released a joint statement that did not name identify the material, instead referring to information that “contradicts Islamic and social principles.”
“The platform was asked to delete this content, including stuff aimed at minors,” according to the statement.
Regional authorities will “monitor the platform’s compliance with the orders, and if the unlawful content is still aired, the relevant legal steps will be implemented.”
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Netflix however has not commented on this.
While the GCC did not name the content that was considered inappropriate, one program on Saudi state-run Al-Ekhbariya news station decried “movies and series for youngsters with sequences advocating homosexuality under a theatrical cover via Netflix.”
In an on-air interview, a lawyer stated that they were “extremely bad and unpleasant films for our children, grandkids, and the next generation.”
A different piece on Al-Ekhbariya aired scenes from the cartoon program Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous in which two female characters kiss, however, their faces were obscured.
According to the channel’s interview with a self-described “family and educational consultant,” inappropriate information was “sneaking into our homes” and the country was in the grip of a “censorship crisis.”
Gulf nations have regularly fought with US film distributors over sexual minorities material, particularly in films.
The Disney animated feature Lightyear, which depicts a lesbian kiss, was banned in the United Arab Emirates in June.
Although the UAE is regarded as one of the most open countries in the Gulf area, films with explicit material are frequently trimmed or censored.
Saudi Arabia, which only opened its cinemas in 2017, requested in April that Disney remove “LGBTQ connotations” from the Marvel superhero flick Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Disney refused to comply, and the film was not shown in the Kingdom.
In June, Saudi state TV broadcast footage of officers removing rainbow-colored toys and apparel from shops in the capital as part of a crackdown on homosexuality, which is punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.
Rainbow-colored bows, skirts, caps, and pencil bags were among the items targeted in the raids, which appeared to be aimed at young children.
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