Disney’s streaming service pulled an episode of ‘The Simpsons” that mocked Chinese censorship of the Tiananmen Square Massacre from its Hong Kong platform, according to multiple reports.
The episode, titled “Goo Goo Gai Pan,” featured the Simpson family traveling to Beijing, where they walk past a plaque in Tiananmen Square, the site of the 1989 massacre, that read: “On this site, in 1989, nothing happened.” Homer Simpson also referred to former Chinese leader Mao Zedong as “a little angel that killed 50 million people” in the episode.
The episode is not available to be streamed on the Hong Kong version of Disney+, according to multiple reports. The episode can be accessed through a virtual private network that sets the location of a user’s IP address to a foreign country, Variety reported, indicating that the episode was specifically removed from the Hong Kong service.
A picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen on a large screen during a Cultural Performance as part of the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China, at the Bird’s nest national stadium in Beijing on June 28, 2021. (Photo by NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images)
“This is the first notable time an American streaming giant has censored content in Hong Kong,” Kenny Ng, a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University specializing in film censorship, told Bloomberg. “Basically, the whole story is for streaming companies to be more tailored to a Chinese audience and to not offend the Chinese government … This is likely to continue in the future with more companies with financial interests in China.”
Disney+ officially launched its streaming services in Hong Kong earlier in November, Time Out Group reported. Hong Kong passed a censorship law in October banning content critical of the Chinese government, BBC News reported.
The episode also referenced the iconic “Tank Man” photograph featuring a Tiananmen Square protester standing in front of a line of oncoming tanks. (RELATED: China Bans Effeminate Men On TV To Promote ‘Revolutionary Culture’)
The Walt Disney Company and the Hong Kong government did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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