Disney+ in Hong Kong Drops 'Simpsons' Episode with 'Forced Labor' Mention

File Photo: Disney+ will raise its US price by a dollar to $7.99 - AFP
File Photo: Disney+ will raise its US price by a dollar to $7.99 - AFP
TT
20

Disney+ in Hong Kong Drops 'Simpsons' Episode with 'Forced Labor' Mention

File Photo: Disney+ will raise its US price by a dollar to $7.99 - AFP
File Photo: Disney+ will raise its US price by a dollar to $7.99 - AFP

An episode of "The Simpsons" that refers to "forced labor camps" in China is nowhere to be found on the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong amid growing censorship concerns in the city.

Hong Kong once boasted significant artistic and cultural freedoms compared to mainland China, but authorities have clamped down on dissent following democracy protests in 2019, including stepping up film censorship.

Episode 2 of the US animated hits' 34th season included the line: "Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones, and romance."

"One Angry Lisa", which first aired last October, could not be accessed on Disney+ using a Hong Kong connection but is available elsewhere, AFP confirmed.

It is the second time in three years that the streaming service's Hong Kong version has dropped a Simpsons episode that satirized China.

The previously affected episode showed the Simpsons visiting Beijing's Tiananmen Square -- the site of a deadly 1989 crackdown on democracy protesters -- finding a sign there that read: "On this site, in 1989, nothing happened."

The Hong Kong government and Disney did not immediately provide comment.

In 2021, Hong Kong passed censorship laws forbidding broadcasts that might breach a broad national security law that China imposed on the city.

Censors have since ordered directors to make cuts to their films and refused permission for others to be shown.

While those rules do not cover streaming services, authorities have warned that online platforms are still subject to the national security law, which criminalizes the broadly defined crimes of subversion, succession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.

In recent years, Hollywood has been accused of bending to China's censorship regime to tap into its vast consumer base and billion-dollar box office.

Beijing has long denied accusations of torture and forced labor in the far-western Xinjiang region, even as a recent United Nations report found the allegations credible.

Rights groups say more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are detained in what the US State Department and others have said amounts to genocide.

In 2020, Disney came under fire for filming the live-action Mulan remake in Xinjiang, with local government agencies thanked in the credits.



International K-Pop Fans Thrill to Prospect of BTS Reunion 

Fans of K-pop band BTS wait for photos near an ARMY Bomb during the annual 2025 BTS Festa celebrating the BTS' debut anniversary in Goyang, South Korea, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Fans of K-pop band BTS wait for photos near an ARMY Bomb during the annual 2025 BTS Festa celebrating the BTS' debut anniversary in Goyang, South Korea, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

International K-Pop Fans Thrill to Prospect of BTS Reunion 

Fans of K-pop band BTS wait for photos near an ARMY Bomb during the annual 2025 BTS Festa celebrating the BTS' debut anniversary in Goyang, South Korea, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)
Fans of K-pop band BTS wait for photos near an ARMY Bomb during the annual 2025 BTS Festa celebrating the BTS' debut anniversary in Goyang, South Korea, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP)

Thousands of international fans of K-pop megastars BTS gathered on Friday in the suburbs of Seoul amid mounting excitement over an expected reunion of the group after its members complete mandatory service in the South Korean military.

This year's BTS Festa marks the 12th anniversary of the group, which last performed together in 2022 and has not toured since 2019 because of the global pandemic and subsequent military service obligations of its members.

It was unclear if any of the recently discharged performers would appear at the festival organized by the group's management agency, HYBE.

But that did not dampen the enthusiasm of fans, some of whom flew in from around the world hoping to spot some of the superstars at the gathering or at a pair of solo concerts by BTS rapper J-Hope as he wraps up his "Hope on the Stage" world tour.

"I want to enjoy everything because there are many things to do here and ... I hope to see the guys maybe," said Karla Linan Saucede, 33, who travelled from Mexico with her sister and friends.

"It's gone past excitement and into almost being numb," said Ayla O'Ryan, 45, from Scotland, adding that she planned a visit this month to practice Korean in the capital so that she could attend.

BTS' members Jimin and Jungkook discharged from the South Korean military on Wednesday, become the fifth and sixth to complete their service. Members RM and V were discharged on Tuesday and the last to finish will be Suga on June 21.

While details of a reunion have not been released, the group is expected to hold its largest ever world tour in 2026, says NH Securities, one of South Korea's largest investment firms.

Shares in HYBE jumped 11.3% in June as brokerages raised their sales estimates and target price for the agency ahead of the group's comeback.