CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s media regulator demanded Wednesday that Netflix and different steaming providers adhere to this majority Muslim county’s “societal values” — a veiled reference to applications that includes members of the LGBTQ group.
The assertion got here a day after Gulf Arab nations requested Netflix to take away “offensive content” on the streaming service, apparently concentrating on applications that present gays and lesbians.
According to the Egyptian authorities’s assertion, streaming providers ought to adjust to “societal principles and values of the country” they’re streaming in. The assertion known as for them to undertake “necessary measures if they air content contradicting values of the society.”
The assertion by the Supreme Council for Media Regulation didn’t elaborate. Later Wednesday, Netflix, based mostly in Los Gatos, California, declined an Associated Press request for a remark.
Homosexuality is extremely taboo in Egypt, the place a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center discovered that 95% of these polled stated it must be “rejected by society.”
Though it’s not explicitly prohibited by legislation, members of the LGBTQ group are sometimes prosecuted below prices of “immorality” and “debauchery.” Authorities recurrently arrest homosexual males, with giant police raids on personal events or places corresponding to public baths, eating places, and bars.
Egypt’s film trade, lengthy celebrated within the Mideast, additionally bans movies and applications from that includes gays and lesbians.
In June, nations within the Muslim world banned the general public displaying of Disney’s newest animated movie “Lightyear” which has a short second displaying two lesbian characters kissing. After that, the corporate’s Disney+ streaming service stated its “content available should align with local regulatory requirements” in Gulf Arab nations. .
In January, the primary Arabic Netflix film, “No Dearer Friends,” sparked controversy, with critics claiming it was a menace to household and spiritual values, inspired homosexuality and that it was allegedly unfit for Arab societies. At least one lawmaker, Mostafa Bakry, known as for Netflix to be banned in Egypt.
The movie comprises scenes unprecedented for audiences within the nation: an Egyptian spouse discreetly slips off her black, lacy underwear from below her garments earlier than heading out for dinner; a person reveals that he’s homosexual, and a Lebanese father tells his teenage daughter she is free to select whether or not to have intercourse together with her boyfriend regardless of his reservations.
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