Disney has dropped an episode of “The Simpsons” from its streaming platform in Hong Kong that made a reference to forced labor camps in China.
The episode, titled “One Angry Lisa,” was no longer available on Disney+ in the southeastern Chinese city, according to the Financial Times. Experts told the newspaper that Disney may have removed the episode to avoid straining its business relationship with China.
The scene came when the instructor of Marge’s virtual biking class had the Great Wall of China projected in the background.
“Behold the wonders of China,” the instructor said. “Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones, and romance.”
A 2021 State Department report said that forced labor is a “central tactic” used by the Chinese Communist Party to repress the nation’s Uyghur minority.
Disney+ was previously accused of self-censorship in Hong Kong in 2021, according to Politico Europe. Back then, an episode of “The Simpsons” that mentioned Tiananmen Square, where protesters were massacred by Chinese government forces in 1989, was removed from the platform. A spokesperson for the government didn’t address whether it asked Disney to drop that episode.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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