(Dubai) A Dubai-based television channel broadcasting across the Middle East has cut substantial portions of an episode of the satirical news show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver due to references to the involvement of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in the assassination of the columnist of Washington PostJamal Khashoggi.
OSN’s decision highlights continuing limits on speech in the UAE, which has promised to allow protests at the upcoming UN COP28 climate talks it will host later this month , as well as in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
It also underscores how sensitive the dismemberment and killing of Mr. Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul remains more than five years later, as Prince Mohammed seeks to rehabilitate his image through diplomatic efforts.
“Criticizing the royal family, criticizing the crown prince of Saudi Arabia is a terrorist offense and you can be prosecuted for terrorism,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the group Democracy for the Arab World Now, founded by Mr. Khashoggi.
“I’m more concerned about content providers like HBO allowing their content to be censored. »
Jamal Khashoggi, a longtime journalist, royal court insider and defender of the kingdom, fled Saudi Arabia after the ascension of Prince Mohammed. His chronicles in the Post directly criticized the Saudi regime. U.S. intelligence agencies and others believe a Saudi team killed and dismembered Mr. Khashoggi on orders from the crown prince, something the kingdom has denied.
PHOTO LEFTERIS PITARAKIS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Jamal Khashoggi
The episode of Last Week Tonight, which aired on October 22, focused primarily on the New York-based management consulting firm McKinsey. McKinsey has worked with Saudi Arabia in recent years, particularly under the rule of Prince Mohammed, who is favoring a rapid economic transition, which includes tens of billions of dollars in spending on major projects like Neom, on the Red Sea.
“McKinsey now has offices all over the world, and through them they’ve been able to get close to some really terrible clients,” John Oliver said.
“(McKinsey) is so deeply ingrained in the Saudi government that the Saudi Ministry of Planning has been nicknamed the McKinsey Ministry. »
Oliver continues in the segment by referring to the Saudi financial summit that McKinsey attended after Khashoggi’s assassination as a “journalist slashing gathering.”
Oliver also mentions that McKinsey compiled information on criticism of the kingdom’s 2015 austerity campaign on Twitter, which was first reported by the New York Times in 2018. After the report, Saudi officials made arrests apparently linked to their criticism while one user found himself the target of phone hacking. McKinsey insisted its report was an internal document and said it was “horrified by the possibility, however remote, that it could have been misused in any way.”
OSN cut this material, as well as other portions mentioning Saudi Arabia in a mock satirical McKinsey ad created by the series. OSN did, however, include a passage after the show’s credits in which an actor, referring to the kingdom, says, “Wait, wait, I’m sorry, did he do another one?” Oh my God. Which newspaper? »
OSN, a company founded in 2009 that rebroadcasts satellite and streaming programs across the Middle East, declined to discuss questions from The Associated Press about the cut segments. The company describes itself as having only two shareholders: a Kuwaiti investment company called KIPCO with ties to its ruling family and Mawarid Group, a Saudi private investment company.
“As with all aspects of our business, OSN complies with the laws of the markets in which we operate, including all content-related compliances in the region,” a company statement to the AP said.
“As such, from time to time we make minor changes to the content. »
Representatives for Saudi Arabia and John Oliver did not respond to a request for comment. HBO declined to comment on this matter.