Report finds 9 Netflix shows were removed as of 2020, 5 requested by IMDA

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Netflix has released its Environmental Social Governance report for 2019, in which it revealed that Singapore has sent the most number of requests to remove show titles from its service.

The report states that out of nine titles Netflix has removed from specific country's services, five of them came under the request from Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). The IMDA has requested Netflix to remove shows Cooking on High, The Legend of 420, and Disjointed from its service in Singapore in 2018, The Last Temptation of Christ in 2019, and The Last Hangover most recently in 2020.

The report said that Netflix's catalog differs in respective countries, and it does not have the rights to feature all shows in all the countries it has a market in. Netflix is said to also report the titles they have taken down annually from 2021 onwards. Netflix has declined to comment.

In a statement to Marketing, a spokesperson from IMDA said that over-the-top service providers in Singapore are expected to abide by IMDA’s content code for over-the-top, video-on-demand and niche services, which includes its classification ratings. The spokesperson added that the content code serves to protect the young from unsuitable content, maintain community norms and values, and safeguard public interests, while allowing adults to make informed choices.

The other titles that Netflix has been asked to remove since 2015 are The Bridge from New Zealand's service (2015), Full Metal Jacket from Vietnam's service (2017), Night of the Living Dead from Germany's service (2017), and one episode from the series Patriot Act—“Saudi Arabia”— from its Saudi Arabia's service (2019).

Singapore is not the only country to have a high censorship rate. Netflix in currently blocked in Indonesia, with a hashtag surfacing in Twitter saying #NetflixTidakAman (Netflix is not safe). According to The Jakarta Post, Netflix has been blocked by service providers Telkomsel, IndiHome and Wifi.id since 2016. Telkom Indonesia, parent company of these brands, said that the streaming platform has “yet to fully comply” with the media content regulations in Indonesia.

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