What is Saudi Arabia's anti-cybercrime law and why was an episode of Patriot Act removed by Netflix?
The second episode of ‘Patriot Act’ was removed from the streaming service in the strict Kingdom following legal demands from Saudi officials. Here’s the latest.
What is Saudi Arabia’s anti-cybercrime law all about?
Article 6 of the country's anti-cybercrime law prohibits the "production, preparation, transmission or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals and privacy" on the internet.
The Saudi law also states that anyone who commits a cybercrime will be subject to a prison term of up to five years and/or a significant fine.
The Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission has used this law to force Netflix to pull a particularly controversial episode of a comedy show from its stream in the strict Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia is ranked 169th out 180 countries in the world on the Press Freedom Index.
Why was the episode pulled?
The episode in question in the second instalment of comedy show ‘Patriot Act’ with Hasan Minhaj.
The episode features the comedian mocking Saudi Arabia following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In the show, Minhaj is also seen condemning the Crown Prince’s policies.
His exact script is: “Just a few months ago, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, also known as 'MBS', was hailed as the reformer the Arab World needed.
“But the revelations about Khashoggi's killing have shattered that image.”
He goes on to say: "I am genuinely rooting for change in Saudi Arabia.
“I am rooting for the people of Saudi Arabia.
“There are people in Saudi Arabia fighting for true reform, but MBS is not one of them.
"And to those who continue to work with him, 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 modernising Saudi Arabia.
“The only thing he is modernising is Saudi dictatorship."
How did Netflix respond to worldwide criticism?
In a statement, Netflix aimed to address concerns over press freedom.
The company said: “We strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal demand – and to comply with local law".
Netflix is available in 190 countries worldwide and has more than 137 million subscribers.
The streaming service's licensing deals prevent its content from being made available everywhere, with the company claiming it was down to different laws in different countries.
The streaming service added: “While we may disagree with some of these laws, we comply with valid legal requests to remove content in different countries.”
Also, despite the move to remove it from Saudia Arabia’s Netflix stream, people in the kingdom will still be able to watch the episode on the show's YouTube channel – for now.
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