Grow a spine, Netflix

As the old tagline for the X-Files says: The truth is out there.

Apparently, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is just learning that — the hard way.

Indeed, if the kingdom hoped to quell worldwide criticism of his alleged masterminding of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it should not have demanded that Netflix censor a comedy act that skewers the prince.

Comedian Hasan Minhaj says news of the censorship in Saudi Arabia made it go viral. In fact, more people saw the episode of Patriot Act on YouTube than would have normally watched it on Netflix.

Still, that unintended result does not excuse the streaming giant for pulling the episode after Saudi Arabia accused it of violating a cybercrime law.

Netflix needs to grow a backbone. If Minhaj can fight for free speech, so should it. The optics of not doing so are terrible. By censoring Minhaj, Netflix appears to be dishonouring Khashoggi, who was killed by the regime because he wouldn’t submit to censorship.

Further, it puts Netflix in the position of appearing to support the “kingdom’s zero-tolerance policy on freedom of expression,” Samah Hadid of Amnesty International says. “It’s a slippery slope.”

Granted, Netflix isn’t alone in appeasing dictatorships. Google caved to Chinese authorities and is even creating a censored version of its search engine for the Chinese market to help authorities do their dirty work despite its celebrated motto: “Don’t be evil.”

The bottom line is that companies that make their fortunes off free speech should not be capitulating to censorship that serves only to bolster tyrants. They should be fighting it — if not for humanity’s sake, then at least because it’s bad for business.