Disney has pulled an episode of “The Simpsons” from its streaming platform in Hong Kong. The reason-- it includes a line about “forced labour camps” in China.
The episode titled 'One Angry Lisa' was first shown in October 2022. it features a scene that shows Marge Simpson taking a virtual exercise bike class in front of a virtual background of the Great Wall of China. The instructor says: “Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labour camps where children make smartphones, and romance.”
China's use of forced labour on the Uyghur minority in the Xinjiang region has been one of the reasons for Beijing's soured relationship with the West. Reports of labour being exploited in camps Beijing deems as being vocational camps have led to the UN saying that these may constitute crimes against humanity, although China rejects any claims of human rights violations in Xinjiang.
The episode is no longer available on the Disney platform in Hong Kong. It is unclear whether the government asked Disney to remove the episode. In 2021, Disney in Hong Kong pulled a Simpsons episode that made reference to Tiananmen Square, the scene of a brutal massacre of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing in 1989.
