Netflix has removed an episode of “Designated Survivor” from its service in Turkey over complaints from Turkish censors that the episode painted a fictional version of the country’s president in an unflattering light.
“Following a demand from the Turkish regulator, we have removed one episode of ‘Designated Survivor’ from Netflix in Turkey only, to comply with local law. It is still available on our service in the rest of the world,” a Netflix spokesperson told TheWrap.
The episode “Family Ties,” which premiered on the streamer in 2018, depicts a fictional version of a Turkish president named Fatih Turan played by actor Troy Caylak (pictured above). The character meets resistance from Turkey’s opposition while attending a NATO summit in the U.S., where he interacts with the fictional U.S. president Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland).
Netflix has a policy of complying with local laws from foreign regulators to maintain its streaming presence in each country.
The streaming service released a Sustainability Accounting Standards Board Report last year, a copy of which was obtained by TheWrap, which details nine other occurrences of censorship compliance over the company’s history. The last occurrence was in January 2019 when Netflix removed an episode of “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” in Saudi Arabia over a segment concerning the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.