Should
internet platforms respect the laws of individual countries in terms of what
content they show or should they defy these laws in the name of freedom of the
press? Is the internet a good means of allowing
other voices to reach countries with strong restrictions on the press like
Saudi Arabia?
Well, it's in the best interest of an international company to keep good relations with governments. Therefore, the decision of Netflix to stop broadcasting the episode in Saudi Arabia definitely makes bussiness sense, although it made some human rights activists angry. If Saudi Arabia has some kind of anti-hate law, then everybody wishing to make bussiness in the country needs to abide that law. Abiding law creates a good ecosystem for sustainable development of bussinesses. However, this situation shows that the definition of hate differs worldwide, and in this case, it may well be possible that Saudis do not like the idea of sharing the show around the country, as it politicaly sensitive information.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Netflix CEO said "entertainment companies have to make compromises over time... the thrust of what we're trying to do is have the artistic vision be consistent through the world.", the second part is likeable to be only a PR clause. I think world's big companies are just too big to value ideas like free speech more than maintaining good relations with countries or advertisment buyers. This is actually proved in the EFF report, which showed that Facebook, Instagram and Vimeo do not handle legal takedown requests transparently. Facebook actually allows politicians (and not only them) to remove comments which are anyhow disturbing the owner of the post, what sometimes results in removing comments argumenting against the owner (Example: MP Ľuboš Blaha removes all comments aimed against him which make sense). Therefore, also other firms than Netflix are willing to limit freedom of speech in order to get a better position in a country.
@Adam, I completely agree with you that pulling of that episode was a good business decision for Netflix. However, after watching the video from the episode I clearly see why the royals in Saudi Arabia wanted it down. By taking it down Netflix openly admitted to accepting censorship. This creates a problem that is as the article mentions: “However, if Netflix shows that it is willing to cave to government pressure, what's to stop the White House from requesting a show critical of President Donald Trump removed?” There is nothing people can do without being informed. We see what is happening in Slovakia right now. Death of a journalist as a form of censorship. Where there is censorship there is something wrong and we need to stay informed.
DeleteThis is a really relatable topic for me since I also experienced media restrictions from the government when I lived in Bahrain for 5 years. Similar to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain is an Islamic monarchy ruled by the Royal family called the Al-Khalifa, and for the sake of their reputation, anti-governmental articles, videos, pictures, or any sort of media is censored, controlled, and blocked by the ministry of information.In my opinion, it is difficult to observe and evaluate those countries from a democratic perspective as the article does since the logic applied are worlds apart. Those strict regulation is indispensable for absolute monarchies because the support from their people and patriotism is crucial for maintaining its power. Even before the Esquire put a spotlight into this topic, for a long period of time, Saudi Arabia is doing the same thing on a daily basis without any transparency to the citizens. Of course, from an international point of view, this act seems like a violation towards freedom of the press, although, on the other hand, as a person who lived in Bahrain, this restriction policy actually enabled to maintain loyalty and ties among citizens, and in addition, prevents disputes in the country (since no one would politically oppose the government). It can’t be stated unconditionally that all internet platform should protect the freedom of the press at first, and deny all intervention from governments. There are different principles, laws, ideology in each country, and in many cases, this helped for maintaining the country in shape, and absolute freedom in speech is not what they desire.
ReplyDeleteNetflix is one of the biggest entertainment platforms in the world and the platform is now facing an issue with artistic freedom. As the article mentions there is an episode of a rather popular show “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” on this entertainment platform which had to be taken down after Saudi Arabia issued a legal takedown request.
ReplyDeleteArtistic freedom is a problem which a lot of big companies are now facing. “As Netflix continues to develop original political content, it needs to be prepared to defend its claim to support artistic expression everywhere and anywhere it might be challenged.” In my opinion, Netflix should find a way how to address these issues without prohibiting artists to publicly present their stance on certain issues. But we have to take into consideration that Netflix is not the only company facing this problem. Companies, such as YouTube or Facebook have been facing such problems for years and the companies found a way how to deal with such issues effectively. So maybe Netflix should follow the example of YouTube which has been very transparent in the case of handling legal takedown requests.
Furthermore, Saudi Arabia is one of the most censored countries in the world and the public should be aware of the stuff that is happening in their country. Countries should be allowed to issue a takedown request but the content should be reviewed and taken down only in the cases when the content is seriously interfering with the country’s policies, otherwise, we will soon be facing censorship.
In conclusion, Netflix should be more careful than ever. Artistic freedom is a concept that should never be forgotten by any company. We have to comply with some laws but we want to have our rights and no government should ever forget about that.
@Matej, I agree that it would be nice if Netflix valued artistic freedom a bit more and that Saudi Arabia is very censored country. However, I believe Netflix is not following the artistic freedom policy because it doesn't fit Netflix's business goals. This situation shows that Netflix is affraid of Saudi Arabia censorship machine, which could significantly limit Netflix business in the area. In other words, Netflix had to decide whether to take down the show and continue broadcasting, or don't take down the show and face potential ban in Saudi Arabia.
DeleteI am also not sure whether YouTube is the best possible example. As far as I know, this company censores or demonetizes many videos which doesn't fit their "community guidelines", for example videos about weapons, IDF or CSA.
To conclude it all, I believe it is nice to know that every company favors profits and money over some liberal ideas.
I found that site very usefull and this survey is very cirious, I ' ve never seen a blog that demand a survey for this actions, very curious... משרד יחסי ציבור ברמת גן
ReplyDelete