That’s why Disney censors the “Simpsons” in Hong Kong. That is why the magnitude of the destruction is so great

The cult animated series “The Simpsons” is known for addressing socially, socially or politically questionable circumstances in its episodes. Also in the last season, issue 34. In the second episode “An Angry Lisa”, mother Marge buys a newfangled exercise bike and works out on it.

A virtual guide will take you on a tour of the Great Wall of China. Meanwhile, he talks about “the new wonders” in China, such as bitcoin mines and forced labor camps where children are said to make smartphones.

The Chinese government has long been accused of sending unloved fellow citizens, especially members of the Uyghur Muslim minority, to forced labor camps and “re-educating” them there.

The hint from the Simpsons virtual guide was probably too much for China’s censors, who have exerted far more influence than before in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since its crackdown on pro-democracy movements in 2019. Episode 2 of Season 34 was unceremoniously removed from the Disney+ streaming service.

Hong Kong has long enjoyed significantly more cultural, political and social freedoms than the rest of China. Now, however, more and more literary and cinematic works seem to fall under the long and critical arm of Xi Jinping’s controllers. The expression of political opinions and free reporting in the media often suffer from censorship.

In 2021, a film censorship law was passed in Hong Kong, officially to ban content that “endangers national security”. However, according to The Guardian, this law should not apply to streaming services. It’s unclear why the Disney company is now intervening on the in-house service – but a censorship connection is hard to deny given the content of the missing episode. A request from the Guardians to the Walt Disney Company for a statement went unanswered.

The episode “An Angry Lisa” is the second Simpsons episode no longer available in Hong Kong. The twelfth episode of season 16 was also never shown on Disney +: it satirically discusses the Chinese Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy protesters in 1989.