Disney has removed an episode of “The Simpsons” including criticism of China from its Hong Kong streaming service.
The episode, titled “One Angry Lisa,” first aired in October of last year and depicts Marge Simpson participating in a spin class while photos of the Great Wall of China are displayed on a screen.
The class lecturer states, “Behold the wonders of China.” “Bitcoin mines and child labor camps where smartphones are manufactured”
Beijing’s authority over Hong Kong has increased in recent years, and Disney presumably pulled the episode so as not to irritate the Chinese authorities.
China is a crucial market for Disney, having been one of the company’s most important revenue streams in recent years.
China is under fire for human rights violations, including cultural and religious persecution, thus Disney’s determination to remain friendly with the government has provoked allegations of hypocrisy.
“Business is capitalism, but a firm like Disney, which constantly touts its diversity and inclusiveness, should stand up for what it claims to believe in rather than groveling for China’s money. On Twitter, a critic recently screamed against hypocrisy.
The “labor camp” reference in an episode of “The Simpsons” appears to refer to the mass incarceration of Uyghurs, a primarily Muslim ethnic group residing in western China.
According to the US Department of State, up to 1,200 state-run internment camps for Uyghurs have been established around the region.
The Department states that detention in these camps is meant to erase ethnic and religious identities under the guise of “vocational training.” The employment of forced labor is key to this repressive strategy.
Axios was the first to reveal that one episode of “The Simpsons” had been removed from Hong Kong’s Disney streaming service.
However, this is not the first time a cartoon episode has been canceled.
Disney removed a separate episode of “The Simpsons” with a joke about Tiananmen Square from its streaming service in Hong Kong in 2021.
Axios noted in its report, “Disney is no stranger to China’s censorship demands and has a long history of submitting to them.”
Disney is hardly the only American company facing criticism for its apparent intimate relationship with China.
In the midst of widespread protests against Xi Jinping’s “zero COVID” regulations, Apple, a similarly progressive corporation, was criticized for limiting the use of its AirDrop application in China.
»Disney cancels an episode of “The Simpsons” that criticized China’s “forced labor camps.”«