Disney+ Hotstar Censors Beef Mentions on DuckTales 4d1a5w Entertainment News

It seems to be another case of Indian TV self-censorship being imported online. 5h3j43

By Akhil Arora | Updated: 18 August 2020 12:34 IST

Disney+ Hotstar Censors Beef Mentions on DuckTales

Photo Credit: Disney q1h3y

A mention of hamburger in DuckTales

Highlights

DuckTales season 1 aired on Disney Channel India originally
TV channels in India are subject to strict self-regulation
Disney+ Hotstar has done a lot worse with self-censorship before

ment

Disney+ Hotstar has now been found censoring the animated series DuckTales. The streaming service has erased all spoken mentions of beef from DuckTales, including the word “ham” in “hamburger”. For what it's worth, the word “hamburger” is still intact in the English subtitles. And on a more hilarious note, the Hindi-language dub of DuckTales changes the mentions to “cheeseburger”, which traditionally implies a hamburger topped with cheese. Maybe the censors were thinking of a vegetarian cheese burger.

Reddit N4399 spoke about this first on Disney+ Hotstar refused to comment on the reasoning behind it, while Disney Channel — DuckTales' original broadcaster in India — has yet to answer our queries on why the word “ham” has been censored on DuckTales.

TV channels — such as Disney Channel India — are subject to self-regulation in India, with the looming threat of fine and licence suspension, which has given way to historical drama Vikings, because it wanted the Hindi dub and subtitles, and the available streams from television were censored in much the same way.

This is also happening at a time when online platforms are debating increased self-regulation and there is talk of oversight as well. Unlike TV, streaming content is not subject to any regulation in India, though the government is hoping to change that. It's been pushing for more self-censorship by way of a new self-regulation code known as the Digital Curated Content Complaint Council (DCCCC). The DCCCC is expected to effectively work along the lines of how television content is moderated in India. Disney+ Hotstar is one of five players who are on board with the DCCCC.

In the past, Disney+ Hotstar has also Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Can Netflix force Bollywood to reinvent itself? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS. You can also the episode or just hit the play button below.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.