An episode of âPatriot Act With Hasan Minhajâ has been removed by Netflix in Saudi Arabia after the country expressed complaints about material in the show.
âNow would be a good time to reassess our relationship with Saudi Arabia. And I mean that as a Muslim and as an American,â says Minhaj in the episode titled âSaudi Arabia.â
He goes on to discuss the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October and was revealed to have been slain on orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggiâs body has not been found.
The comedian then addresses the crown prince, referring to him as MBS, by critiquing the United Statesâ relationship with him and Saudi Arabia.
âMBS asked, âWhy the outrage?â and frankly, MBSâ confusion is completely understandable. He has been getting away with autocratic shit like [Khashoggiâs killing] for years with almost no blowback from the international community,â says Minhaj.
Minhaj then lists example after example of problems in Saudi Arabia, including the imprisonment of human rights activists and his critics and rising numbers of executions, and says that the only people who are fully aware of this are the people of Saudi Arabia, who call Mohammed âAbu Rasasaâ â which translates to âfather of the bullet.â
âWe access God through Saudi Arabia, a country I feel does not represent our values,â says Minhaj, explaining how problematic it is to pray facing Mecca, the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, in Saudi Arabia.
Minhaj then addresses the Yemen war as âthe biggest tragedy of the MBS era.â
Netflix confirmed for the Financial Times that it removed the episode in Saudi Arabia last week, âafter the countryâs Communications and Information Technology Commission made a request to take it down because it allegedly violated the kingdomâs anti-cyber crime law.â
âWe strongly support artistic freedom worldwide and only removed this episode in Saudi Arabia after we had received a valid legal request â and to comply with local law,â a Netflix spokesperson told HuffPost.
According to the Financial Times, Netflix said the Saudi telecoms regulator cited Article 6 of the law as the reason for the complaint, which states that âproduction, preparation, transmission, or storage of material impinging on public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy, through the information network or computersâ is a crime punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine not exceeding 3 million riyals (about $800,000).
The episode is still available on Netflix in the United States, and Saudi users can still find it on the showâs YouTube page.
Representatives for Minhaj did not immediately respond to a request for comment.