Gulf nations demand Netflix remove ‘offensive’ content

Gulf Arab countries have demanded that the streaming service Netflix remove “offensive content”, citing unspecified material that “violates Islamic and societal values and principals”.

A special committee of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional organisation that includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, made the request in a statement on Tuesday.“[Netflix] was contacted to remove this content, including content directed at children, and to ensure adherence to the laws,” the joint statement from the GCC committee and the Saudi General Commission for Audiovisual Media noted.

The move appears to be in response to Netflix airing content that includes LGBTQ characters, as well as other material deemed “immoral”.

Saudi state television aired a report on Tuesday that included an interview with a woman identified as a “behavioural consultant” who described Netflix as being an “official sponsor of homosexuality”.

It also aired footage of an animated show that streams on Netflix, Jurassic Park: Camp Cretaceous, which showed two female characters kissing, though the footage was blurred out.

A separate segment on Saudi state television also suggested that Netflix could be banned in the kingdom over programming deemed to negatively influence children.

The California-based Netflix has yet to make a comment on the statement from the GCC committee.

Previous bans

The Gulf statement comes after a number of Muslim-majority countries banned the public showing of Disney’s animated film Lightyear in June over a brief moment showing two women kissing.

In the aftermath, the company’s Disney+ streaming service said its “content available should align with local regulatory requirements” in Gulf Arab countries.