Watch: Comedian Hasan Minhaj attacks internet censorship in China and Saudi Arabia with his jokes
‘Someone got fired for insulting the President? That’s the only way to get a job in my industry right now.’
Back in December 2018, Netflix complied with a “request” from the Saudi Arabian government to remove an episode of comedian Hasan Minhaj’s show Patriot Act that was critical of the crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
This act of censorship became a talking point in the following weeks, for very good reasons. So it was obviously going to be the first thing that Minhaj addressed on his return for a second season of his show.
After satirically patting himself on the back for being a bipartisan icon who had united liberal and conservatives in their outrage, he pivoted to the larger issue of internet censorship and another country that wielded it as a weapon – China.
Minhaj attacked the authoritarian Chinese government and President Xi Jinping for silencing human rights activists and #MeToo movement. The jokes are funny, of course, but the subject is as serious as it gets.
