Fans have been taking advantage of Disney’s ownership over The Simpsons. The hit animated series has been available on the Disney Plus streaming service for fans to watch in its entirety. Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks, and it appears that one particular joke from The Simpsons has been censored as a result.
As shared via Deadline, this particular joke was censored following the premiere of a 2022 episode in Hong Kong, China. The reason is simple: it makes fun of the Chinese government. Marge Simpson makes the joke which includes the following dialogue:
“Behold the wonders of China: bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.”
As a result of the censorship, the episode was removed from the streaming service altogether. And, as they noted via The Financial Times:
“It is unclear exactly when the episode was removed from the service, or who removed it. The Chinese government denies allegations of forced labor.”
The episode, titled “One Angry Lisa”, is actually the second episode of The Simpsons to be removed from Disney Plus in Hong Kong. The other is the 2005 episode “Goo Goo Gai Pan“, which references the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. For now, Disney has yet to comment on the censorship.
It is unclear, then, who has been removing the episodes from Disney Plus or when they chose to do so. It appears that the Chinese government didn’t remove them nor did they pressure Disney into doing so. As a result, we’ll have to wait and see if any additional information on the matter comes to light.
In the meantime, Hong Kong is currently analyzing its own laws and guidelines when it comes to streaming content. This means that the censored episodes of The Simpsons could return to Disney Plus at a later date. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any potential updates as we have them.