Netflix pulls episode of Patriot Act after Saudi complaint
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Rebecca Hawkes
| 03 January 2019

Netflix has reportedly removed an episode of a satirical comedy from its video-on-demand service in Saudi Arabia following an official complaint by the kingdom.

The second episode of Patriot Act with US comedian Hasan Minhaj, which was critical of Saudi Arabia’s rulers, was considered a violation of the country’s anti-cybercrime law.

Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission said that the episode violated a law banning “production, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computers.”

Netflix confirmed to The Financial Times that the episode is no longer available to Saudi viewers. The US streaming giant said that while it strongly supported artistic freedom worldwide it had to comply with local legislation.

Article 6 of Saudi Arabia’s anti-cybercrime law is punishable by up to five years in prison.

In the show, Minhaj criticised Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year.

The episode had been available to Netflix subscribers in the Gulf Kingdom for several weeks prior to the complaint.