Disney Removes Simpsons ‘Forced Labor’ Episode in Hong Kong

The Simpsons has been shown in mainland China since the early 2000s

Disney has removed an episode of The Simpsons that references Chinese labor camps from its Hong Kong streaming service.

The absence of the One Angry Lisa episode in its final season was flagged up in media reports this week. It is unclear when it was removed.

Disney has declined to respond to the BBC’s inquiries.

Concerns about censorship in Hong Kong have increased after several controversial laws were passed.

The city previously had access to more civil liberties than mainland China, but Beijing has restricted those rights since large-scale pro-democracy protests rocked the city in 2019.

In the episode, which first aired last October, character Marge Simpson is shown images of the Great Wall of China during a practice class.

During the class, her instructor comments, “See the wonders of China: bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where kids make smartphones.”

The BBC has reported that hundreds of thousands of people belonging to ethnic minorities in the western region of Xinjiang have been forced into manual labour.

The Chinese government denies this, saying the factories are part of a voluntary “poverty alleviation” program.

The Simpsons has been shown in mainland China since the early 2000s. Clips from the current season can be found on Chinese streaming sites, but not from this particular scene, according to a BBC review on Tuesday.

The removal of the latest Simpsons episode comes after Disney also removed a show episode in 2021 that referenced the 1989 Tiananmen Square raid.

Western television censorship is commonplace in mainland China, and critics say the pattern has increased in Hong Kong.

Hollywood studios have previously been accused of removing potentially objectionable content to Chinese censors in order to retain access to the large Chinese market.

In 2020, Hong Kong passed a sweeping national security law criminalizing acts of subversion or undermining the power or authority of the central government.

Authorities say it is necessary to maintain order, but opponents say it has been used to silence critics and democracy activists. The trial for Hong Kong’s largest national security case began Monday, involving 47 people accused of “subversion”.

In 2021, the city’s legislature passed a film censorship law targeting content deemed to be “advocating, supporting, glamorizing, encouraging, and inciting activities that might threaten national security.”

Officials said at the time that the law didn’t apply to streaming services.

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