The Financial Times reported that Disney has removed an episode of The Simpsons in Hong Kong showing forced labor camps in China. The episode, titled "One Angry Lisa" is also not available on Fox's website.
In the second episode of the 34th season of the popular cartoon series, Marge Simpson becomes obsessed with using her interactive exercise bike. One of the virtual circuits is done on a recreation of the Great Wall of China, and the instructor says:
Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where children make smartphones.
According to a source cited by Axios, which has independently confirmed the news, publishing the episode would go against a Chinese national security law from 2020, which restricts certain liberties such as freedom of speech.
Axios suggests that there may be other motivations on Disney's part besides complying with a Chinese law that violates some fundamental rights:
China is one of the most lucrative film markets in the world outside of the U.S,, and Beijing is beginning to allow Disney films back into its theaters after banning most of its most popular hits during the pandemic.
Forced labor camps
Forced labor camps and their use to silence dissenters have been part of the communist dictatorship since its inception. A recent report from Sheffield Hallam University shows how the Chinese regime uses the Uyghur population in labor camps to manufacture cars. These are their main conclusions:
We found 96 companies relevant to the auto industry mining, processing, or manufacturing in the Uyghur Region, including 38 with documented engagement in labor transfer programs. Over 100 international car and car parts manufacturers are at risk of sourcing from those companies.
On the other hand, the U.S. Department of Labor published a report on forced labor in Xinjiang, a Chinese province where the Uyghur population lives. The report shows that
It is estimated that 100,000 Uyghurs and other ethnic minority ex-detainees in China may be working in conditions of forced labor following detention in re-education camps. Many more rural poor workers also may experience coercion without detention. China has been included on the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor of Forced Labor (TVPRA List) since 2009.
Disney has already removed in 2021 an episode of The Simpsons in which it made a joke about the repression of the pro-democracy movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
