Disney is withdrawing the Simpsons episode from the Hong Kong Disney+ streaming service and mentions forced labor camps in China

Disney has removed an episode of The Simpsons that mentions human rights abuses in China from the Hong Kong entertainment company’s streaming platform, the Financial Times reports.

The episode titled “One Angry Lisa” contains a joke about “forced labor camps where children make smartphones” in China. It is no longer available on Disney+ in Hong Kong, Reuters confirmed.

In the episode, the character Marge Simpson rides a peloton-style bicycle with an instructor whose backdrop is the Great Wall of China. “Today our pedaling odyssey takes us to the Great Wall of China,” says the instructor. “Behold the wonders of China. Bitcoin mines, forced labor camps where kids make smartphones, and romance.”

It’s unclear when the episode, which first aired on US television in October, was canceled. Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It’s the second Simpsons episode Disney has pulled from its Hong Kong streaming platform. In 2021, the company removed an episode that contained a reference to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing.

The move, which sparked allegations of self-censorship, came after Hong Kong introduced a national security law in 2020 outlawing “seditious sedition, secession and subversion” against the Chinese government.

human rights activists have accused China of detention at least 1 million Uyghurs and other members of ethnic minorities in detention camps, where many say they have been tortured, sexually abused and forced to renounce their language and religion. In 2021 the The US has banned all imports from the Xinjiang region of north-west China where the groups live.

“Forced labor is a cruel violation of human rights that goes totally against the values ​​we all share,” Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said at the time.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.