Gulf Arab nations have demanded that U.S. streaming giant Netflix removes content showing gay and lesbian characters as it “contradicts Islamic values“.
In a statement released Wednesday, September 7, the Saudi and Gulf Co-operation Council media watchdogs said content, including material aimed at children, violated regulations and was deemed offensive.
While the regulator did not specify the offensive content, Saudi state television aired an interview with a woman identified as a “behavioral consultant” who described Netflix as being an “official sponsor of homosexuality”
At the same time, state TV showed blurred clips from the cartoon, “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous,” in which two teenage girls confess their love for each other and kiss.
فيديو | #نتفليكس تروج للشذوذ الجنسي للأطفال تحت غطاء سينمائي..
فهل سيحجب #Netflix في السعودية قريبا؟#نشرة_النهار#الإخبارية pic.twitter.com/kxu5zJ20en
— قناة الإخبارية (@alekhbariyatv) September 6, 2022
Saudi state television also aired a segment suggesting Netflix could be banned in the kingdom over that programming reaching children.
The Riyadh-based General Commission for Audiovisual Media’s statement said the content violated media regulations in the Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
If Netflix continued to broadcast the content then necessary legal measures will be taken, it said, without elaborating.
In Saudi Arabia, sexual relations outside marriage, including homosexual sex, are strictly prohibited.
Under the country’s interpretation of Islamic law, consensual same-sex sexual conduct is punishable by death or flogging, depending on the perceived seriousness of the case.
In April, cinemas in Saudi Arabia did not screen the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness after Disney refused a request from Saudi authorities to cut what they called “LGBTQ references”.
