After Netflix has a Comedy result for users in Saudi Arabia, the excitement is great. The case shows that Streaming services are moving in the field of tension between law, values and economic interests.
Scene from the German-speaking Netflix series “Dark” – the platform is activated in more than 190 countries
“Now is a good time to reconsider our relationship with Saudi Arabia would be. I say this as a Muslim and as an American.” Hasan Minhaj, 33 years old, black Jeans, white sneakers, speaks of the two sentences directly into the camera.
To see this is in the second result, in October, launched Netflix-Comedy-Show “Patriot Act”. In the following approximately 20 minutes of Minhaj speaks about the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, for the U.S. Senate, recently officially, Saudi Arabia is responsible, about the detention of Saudi Arabian Activists, on the role of Riyadh in Yemen-conflict – and especially about crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The bad way in the case of the Comedian, was so far mainly from the US-American TV-Satire “The Daily Show”.
While most of the world’s viewers are probably only now on the shipment to the attention of, can’t of users in Saudi watch Arabia the episode on Netflix. As the Financial Times first reported, the American Streaming platform, the result for users in Saudi Arabia from the program at the request of the Saudi government.
“We support the artistic freedom worldwide, strongly and have removed this Episode only in Saudi Arabia, after we had received from the government a valid legal claim – to the local laws to comply with”, the “Financial Times” quoted a Netflix spokesperson.
As the company announced the sheet, citing the Ministry of information in Riyadh on a law against cyber crime. It hot content “interacted with via the information network or Computer to public order, religious values, morals, and the privacy of citizens”, a Crime that could be punished with a prison sentence of up to five years.
“Frightening, but not surprising”
On the YouTube channel of the “Patriot Act” to see the result for users in Saudi Arabia continues to be – the Riad is not so may be asked to the Google subsidiary so far to remove the Video. The indignation in the network was, however, not have to wait long. “Many of us Arabs were very excited when Netflix its MENA Department (Department of middle East and North Africa, ed. d. Red.) started, because we thought that this was a way to bypass the censorship. I think this is now”, wrote a user.
“The increasing speed with which technology companies are ready to do everything to authoritarian governments to appease, is appalling, if not surprising,” tweeted another. The Washington Post editor, Karen Attiah wrote, in the case of freedom of expression in the Arab world, which had also Khashoggi summoned, it is not only journalists, but also to “artists, Comedians, cartoonists, musicians, activists, and anyone who wants to Express his views on the society”.
Human rights groups protested. A spokeswoman for Human Rights Watch told the British “Guardian”, “every artist whose work appears on Netflix, should be outraged that the company has agreed to censor a Comedy Show, because the thin-skinned Royal family in Saudi Arabia has complained”. The “New York Times” quoted a representative of Amnesty International with the words, Netflix is a risk, “to facilitate the zero tolerance policy of the Kingdom in terms of freedom of expression and to support the authorities to deny the people the right to free access to information”.
Netflix is behaving “in conformity with the law”
Different is the case from the media, looks a legal point of view, because Streaming services and other Internet platforms need to keep in the country concerned, applicable law. The “Patriot Act”should have failed to actually against Saudi laws, “would have to behave in a Netflix first, in conformity with the law,” says Nima Mafi-Gudarzi, a researcher at the Institute for media law and communication law at the University of Cologne. In Germany, you see it differently: “imagine that Netflix would be in the program any documentary in which the Holocaust is denied. That would be a criminal Offence according to German law. Also, since you wouldn’t work towards Netflix, and this program makes for viewers within Germany.”
Has not commented yet publicly on the case: Hasan Minhaj, here on the Set of another Netflix production
At the same time, there is in many countries not only very broad criminal laws, but also “no reasonable judicial control, and then the government can use the course to their interests,” says Bernd Holz Nagel, Professor for media law at the University of Münster. “This is made in countries that are not constitutionally and democratically.”
But economic interests play a role. Netflix, which now has market value of 142 billion US dollars, has expanded massively in recent years. Until 2016, the platform has been activated in 130 countries, including in Saudi Arabia. Also, the US Streaming service, Amazon Prime Video is for 2016 with few exceptions, available worldwide. “Companies are not people gratification units, but who want to make profits,” explains wood nail. US-American corporations, to penetrate in the Chinese market, would have to make concessions.
A Balancing Act
These interests need to agree on the groups with the values, which they uphold, said Mufi Gudarzi. “For the companies, this is a balancing act.” It’s a Dilemma, “because it is also the Export of cultural goods and cultural beliefs. Companies that expand worldwide, the need to adapt to the respective national law, was not yet been put in question and has never been discussed so widely.”
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If, for example, McDonald’s wool open up in Asia, Africa or South America branches, the potential for conflict is low, “because the only thing you have to note there is likely to be the local grocery or health law, or that in the Arab region on the use of pork meat. Here there is art, culture, freedom of expression, there’s a lot more different moral beliefs collide.”
This not only shows the current case. In November, the Supreme court asked in New Delhi, according to media reports, the government is to consult on a Petition calling for a ban on “vulgar content” on Netflix, Amazon Prime and similar services. In Singapore, remote, Netflix, at the request of the government of three series, as these drugs were positive, as the US-American radio station NPR reported, citing a spokesman for the company. But not in all countries, the platforms are ready to make compromises: In China, North Korea, Syria and Crimea, Netflix is not available. Amazon Prime Video to keep, in addition to China, North Korea and Syria, also of Cuba and Iran.