¹HuffPost is outraged at Netflix honoring Saudi Arabia’s right to interpret and implement their own laws. Notwithstanding that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s government is imposing censorship to block unflattering creative content, Netflix has a legitimate reason for “caving” (Huffington’s words). Huffy's huffs and puffs of condemnation of the streaming media giant’s compliance ignores the principle of sovereignty. Whether the cited law by the Saudi telecoms regulator is a sham excuse for damping down free speech, Netflix operates in Saudi Arabia at the pleasure of their governing monarchy. Their law, their country.

The target of this suppression is an episode of “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj,” in which the host criticizes MBS (his shorthand for the Crown Prince) and the Yemen war. While we might agree with the ideas expressed, and I do, calling on Netflix to defy Saudi’s demand to pull the episode is foolishly myopic. We’re not talking sanctions and a presidential bully pulpit that might make them blink. While American companies have an obligation to conduct business with other countries predicated on universal human rights and values, and to not profit by enabling oppressive conduct, this feels petty to me. It might come a day that Netflix should pull the plug on doing business with Saudi Arabia, but acquiescing now to remediate this supposed infraction of her anti-cyber crime law (Article 6) makes sense to me, given the larger scheme of things.

More might come down the pike, considering who we’re dealing with, but HuffPost—in being so rankled over this—seems more an agent provocateur of hyperreality for reader retention than a hard-heating news sleuth. 

— Carl

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¹ https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/netflix-patriot-act-with-hasan-minhaj-saudi-arabia_us_5c2b8947e4b0407e9085ad5d