Netflix Bows Down To The Crown Prince: Is Censorship Winning The Online Race Too?

In the current era, censorship has become a highly debated topic. Most of the times, it has been seen as an oppressive tool used by the government to stifle the voices- especially in the traditional media. The unopposed implementation of this tool in the traditional media forum helped create a shift. A shift- that led to more people into the comforts of the newer media. The internet is a platform, that is highly unregulated. While that has created several security and safety issues, it has also given rise to an unburdened and free place to create content. Most of the countries have zero to almost negligible laws to govern the online forum. This has made streaming platforms, especially like Netflix, extremely popular and celebrated. Yet, very recently, the Hasan Minhaj incident in Saudi Arabia seems to hint, that even internet is not free from the stringent censorship laws of several countries.

Recently, comedian Hasan Minhaj’s stand up comedy was pulled off from Netflix in Saudi Arabia, after government order. The comedian, in one of his episodes, had criticised the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in reference to the journalist Khashoggi murder. This resulted in severe protests and eventually an order from the Saudi government to take that episode off. “The episode was taken off Netflix only after a valid legal demand was made by the Saudi government,” a Netflix spokesperson said. The move was highly criticised by several organisations, people and even Amnesty referred to this as “Netflix censorship risks helping Saudi crackdown”.

This recent incident has shed a light on a far bigger issue- Will the online streaming services also fall prey to such stringent censorship laws? Will the online forum also curtail the freedom of speech and expression of people? The case reflects the growing tensions between global Internet platforms that erase borders and autocratic governments with the money or legal muscle to restrict freedom within the borders they rule.

Netflix is touted as a mechanism of liberation, a platform that helps give rise to smaller creators who could not get past the strong censorship laws that govern the cinemas and the televisions. However, Netflix also seemed to bow down to the censors, or as Robin Wright (columnist in New Yorker) commented, “ Netflix values money over murder”

This case also shines a light on the fact that Saudi Arabia is not the only country which will prove to be a challenge to freedom of speech in the online forum. China has always banned Google and Facebook, and their usage of internet is strongly regulated. Countries like Singapore too has certain laws that ban the showcase of drugs no matter what the platform and New Zealand had its fair share of controversy when it cracked down on 13 reasons why, as they have laws on how suicide should be portrayed.

Even back home, India too has its fair share of problems. While the cinema, performance art and even books are not free from censorship, the Indian Board of Films has strongly maintained that it doesn’t regulate the online streaming sites. Yet, this is far from reality. For examples, Apple Music removed all its explicit songs and censored them when it launched in India; Hotstar has taken a confused stance. While it has a lot of free uncensored content on its platform, it received a lot of flak when they put the censored television version of Masaan on its platform. Amazon has also come under the fire as it has censored many of its own shows by blurring out images.

In India, while direct censorship by government bodies haven’t yet prevailed on these streaming sites, self-censorship remains a problem. As seen from the above events, these platforms tend to censor their own content in the fear of facing black lash or an outright ban. If they try to get risky, they might face ban which harms their business.

Netflix in India also faced tremendous opposition to the famous Sacred Games. While the liberals rejoiced at the kind of censor-free content in the show, many filed FIRs and asked the show to be taken off. Unlike in Saudi Arabia, in this scenario, Netflix hasn’t yet bowed down.

The growing issue of censorship not only suffocates the supposedly ‘free’ and ‘liberated’ streaming monolith Netflix but also hampers America’s spread of culture. It weakens the spread of the American culture and the soft power that it had been proud of. As columnist Alyssa Rosenberg put it, “What is American soft power worth if the culture we export abroad can offer a vision of a good life and a vibrant society, but must remain silent about the kind of change that’s required to achieve that ideal?”

The solution to this problem is far from obvious. While many can argue that these streaming giants should stop self-censorship and be the voice of liberation and a platform for freedom of speech and expression, the practicality of that might not be that easy. These platforms can easily face bans, since the competition is high, for examples if Netflix stops streaming in a country, another platform that is ‘approved’ by the government can take its place. This can thus, completely stops the freedom of speech and expression. In the case of self-censorship, while the freedom of speech is being curtailed, there is a little hope. Staying operational with certain sacrifices might be good for sites like Netflix, as they can at least show nuanced and subtle images of issues like- LGBT or criticism of governments, etc.

However, the problem lies with over compliance of these sites due to ambiguous regulations. They do not know what can be shown and what cannot be.The real promise of the internet is a space that breaks down to traditional norms of what makes up the media. It gives a platform to content creators and let them be who they are. It lowers the barriers to entry. Yet, in the age of censorships, only time will tell whether the strict laws of various countries prevail or the freedom of expression. As of now, with the Hasan Minhaj and self-regulation the score screams- censorship 1 and freedom of expression 0.