The Middle East, especially more conservative countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, is infamous to the West for their pervasive censorship of media. This censorship is applied to almost every type of media available to citizens: news, films, television, music, etc. These governments, or the departments responsible for controlling the media, censor out sex scenes, sometimes even including hugging or kissing, curse words, nudity, homosexuality, and other concepts that are in conflict with sharia law.
Examples:
-Dubai cut out about 45 minutes from the three hour movie, "The Wolf of Wall Street". They censored every curse word, as well as other "distasteful" scenes. This is common, and censors are supposed to take out anything that seems harmful to national security and other national ideals.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10572810/Dubai-censors-cut-quarter-of-The-Wolf-of-Wall-Street.html
-Iran's news agency, "Fars", photoshopped the dress that Michelle Obama wore onscreen at the Oscars. Her actual dress had thin straps and was somewhat low cut. After their changes, it had short sleeves and the neckline was much higher. This was to keep in accord with common dress guidelines for Islam women, who aren't supposed to show their arms or much other skin.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/25/michelle-obama-oscars-dress-iran
-A secret film group exists in Saudi Arabia. About 60 people met in a warehouse, locked themselves in, and proceeded to screen a film. They found out where it was being held through texts, and all parked far away so as to not seem suspicious. Not many films are approved by the Saudi censors, but many people have had success with finding film on the black market.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/15/saudi-secret-cinema-red-wax
Other:
http://artsfreedom.org/?p=1521
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/05/egyptian-director-hany-fawzy-fears-film-homosexuality-gay-love-family-secrets
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/dec/07/this-is-not-a-film
This is very interesting considering the fact that countries like Egypt have gone through revolutionary stages and the main method of promulgating their ideals was social media as censored as it might be. I think that this censorship will one day hit a road block, just like it is doing in Venezuela.
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