Middle East News

Six Gulf states have warned Netflix over content violating Islamic values. The states have threatened Netflix with legal action if it continues broadcasting content that contradicts Islam, while Saudi state media indicated that the offending material centred on shows depicting sexual minorities.

A statement issued jointly by the Saudi media regulator and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), headquartered in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, did not specifically identify material, referring only to content that contradicts Islamic and societal values. The statement said.

Regional authorities will follow up on the platform's compliance with the directives, and in the event that the infringing content continues to be broadcast, the necessary legal measures will be taken.

The Gulf Cooperation Council includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia , and the United Arab Emirates.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is a 2022 USA action Sci-Fi horror by Sam Raimi
Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Rachel McAdams and Benedict Cumberbatch

Banned in Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia in April 2022

Middle East film censors have banned the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness over the inclusion of an openly gay character.  Although the censors have not provided any reasons for banning the film's release, it's the latest Marvel movie to fall victim to state-sponsored censorship to constrain certain civil liberties and human rights norms, including the expression of a LGBTQIA+ lifestyle. By including an openly LGBTQ+ character in its film , America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), the Marvel film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has been banned in Saudi Arabia, as well as Qatar and Kuwait .

Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange 2 introduce's a gay character, America Chavez. America was the first lesbian Latina in Marvel Comics, debuting in 2011's Vengeance #1.

It is reported that the America Chavez character plays a major role in the film and it seems unlikely that the Middle East release can be aved via cuts,

Summary Notes

After the events of Avengers: Endgame, Dr. Stephen Strange continues his research on the Time Stone. But an old friend turned enemy seeks to destroy every sorcerer on Earth, messing with Strange's plan and also causing him to unleash an unspeakable evil.