Hasan Minhaj slams Netflix's Saudi Arabia censorship: "It’s about the precedent"

The Daily Beast

“This isn’t about just censoring one episode of a TV show. It’s about the precedent,” Minhaj said on his first Patriot Act episode since it was revealed that Netflix had yanked an earlier episode in Saudi Arabia after the Saudi government claimed it broke Saudi law. “Because as tech companies keep expanding, they’re going to keep running into more vague censorship laws. Laws that can allow governments to pull any content at any time.” Minhaj, who returned Sunday from hiatus, joked at the top of his new episode that "this is Patriot Act. Or as it’s known in Saudi Arabia, ‘Error 404 Not Found.’” He added: “I still can’t believe it. We got Saudi Arabia to issue its very own Muslim ban.” Minhaj also pointed out that while his episode was removed, Netflix in Saudi Arsbia still has up Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which includes “literal devil worship” and “a lot of premarital witch sex,” and BoJack Horseman, featuring “an alcoholic horse-man who snorts cocaine." “If you’re going to crush all forms of dissent, don’t half-ass it,” Minhaj joked. “But that’s what happens when you’ve got a country run by people who got their job just because of their dad.” Minhaj also noted that “Saudi Arabia made us go viral" by "censoring" the episode.