The removal marks the second time Disney has removed a Simpsons episode, which satirizes China, from its service in Hong Kong.
The Walt Disney Company has removed an episode of the animated series The Simpsons with references to “forced labor camps” in China from its streaming service in Hong Kong.
Episode One Angry Lisa, which first aired on television in October, is not available on the US company’s Disney Plus streaming service in Hong Kong.
It was not clear on Wednesday when the episode was removed from Hong Kong connections using Disney’s streaming service, but the episode is still available elsewhere, news outlets reported. The cartoon removal takes place in the background growing censorship concerns in the city
In the deleted episode, the Simpsons character Marge Simpson attends an instructor-led virtual filming class in front of a virtual backdrop of the Great Wall of China and says, “See the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.”
Disney was not immediately available for comment while the Hong Kong government said it does not comment on decisions made by individual businesses.
My cartoon about Disney censoring the Simpsons ‘forced labor’ episode in Hong Kong for China.
— Bad ї ucao (@badiucao) February 8, 2023
This is the second time the Hong Kong version streaming service has dropped an episode of Simpsons satirizing China. The earlier affected episode showed the Simpsons visiting Beijing’s Tiananmen Square – the site of the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protesters – and finding a sign there that read: content: “At this location, in 1989, nothing happened.”
Focus on American entertainment Hollywood Reporter noted at a time when the Simpsons episode of Tiananmen Square was “subject to exactly the kind of censorship it was written to mock”.
The issue of forced labor is very sensitive in China.
Western governments and activists have for years accused China of imprisoning hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities — mainly Uighurs — in the western region of Xinjiang in detention camps. China has denied allegations it uses forced labor, saying the camps are educational centers designed to teach Mandarin and career skills.
Beijing has also increasingly imposed its controls on Hong Kong, which in 2021 passed a censorship law banning broadcasts that might violate broad national security laws that China has imposed on the city.
Since then, censors have ordered directors to cut their films and refuse to allow others to be shown.
Censorship of Western movies or TV series is widespread in mainland China, with censors removing scenes or banning content seen as going against the values the Chinese Communist Party considers to be. Fit.
