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1[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/ArchieComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/veronica_banned_bikini_7152.jpg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:Thus making it fashionable ForbiddenFruit.]]
3
4Sometimes the government can outright ban a work from being consumed in their country. It usually happens in more authoritarian countries whose governments try to micromanage what their citizens can see. But even in more liberal countries, [[MoralGuardians public pressure]] on retailers or broadcasters can lead to an effective ban on the work (although sometimes -- but not always -- you can get around it by importing it from somewhere else).
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6Works that get this treatment tend to be excessively violent or sexual in nature, [[ValuesDissonance feature content that is considered "taboo" locally]], criticize or mock the country or its government, inflame national or ethnic tensions, or otherwise depict behavior that might undermine the government's authority. The more authoritarian and/or conservative the government, the more works get censored. Even comparatively liberal countries have standards about what can be shown in works, which tends to affect the importation of erotica the most.
7
8This kind of thing is often associated with the government of the People's Republic of China, hence the name "Banned in China". But the trope name is actually a modern twist on the older term, "Banned in UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}" -- the city was once a bastion of MoralGuardians, particularly given the Puritan and Catholic influence, and a local "benevolent group" known as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watch_and_Ward_Society Watch and Ward Society]] held immense sway over what could be displayed or sold in the city. Paradoxically, a ban in Boston [[StreisandEffect could make a work more marketable elsewhere]]. Nowadays, Boston is considered a bastion of liberal politics in the US, and it lost its puritanical reputation in the 1970s. China has taken up the city's mantle, given its frequent (and often arbitrary) censorship of anything it finds contrary to government policy or "harmful to the Chinese youth". As Hollywood focuses on overseas markets, they often have to water down their movies for China and other culturally conservative countries.
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10In RealLife this is an EnforcedTrope. Compare NewMediaAreEvil, NoSwastikas, MediaWatchdog, MoralGuardians, and ValuesDissonance. {{Bowdlerization}} can happen if the government requires substantial content editing before allowing the work to be imported. See PersonaNonGrata for when ''people'' are banned from certain places.
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12%% A note to future editors: When adding in examples, please give a reason why a work was banned in a country and/or cite a source which reports on a work being banned.
13----
14!!Countries with their own pages:
15[[index]]
16* {{BannedInChina/Australia}}
17* {{BannedInChina/Canada}}
18* {{BannedInChina/China}}
19* {{BannedInChina/Germany}}
20* {{BannedInChina/Malaysia}}
21* BannedInChina/UnitedKingdom
22* BannedInChina/UnitedStates
23[[/index]]
24
25!!Other countries:
26[[foldercontrol]]
27
28[[folder:Multiple countries]]
29[[AC:Anime & Manga]]
30* The Philippines and South Korea had a ban on SuperRobot anime, such as ''Anime/VoltesV'', ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' and ''Anime/MazingerZ''. The former is because of the show's premise resembled [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything rebels fighting against a brutal dictator]], and the latter is a reaction to the [[UsefulNotes/KoreansInJapan Japanese occupation of Korea]] (Japan branded Korea as a colony, Japan even tried to abolish Korean culture). The latter also had a ban on MagicalGirl anime (one of the few exceptions in TheNineties were ''Manga/SailorMoon'' and ''Manga/WeddingPeach''). The bans were lifted in 1986 (during the EDSA Revolution) and 1998 (lifting the ban on Japanese cultural products in stages) respectively.
31* ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' has been banned in China in 2015, probably due to its depiction of violence, especially gun violence and towards teachers. The manga series has also been [[https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2023/04/13/assassination-classroom-manga-removed-from-us-schools-after-parental-concerns/ removed from some US school libraries]] after a series of complaints from MoralGuardians over its content.
32* The ''Manga/CrayonShinChan'' series was not released in multiple Arabic-speaking countries due to its adult, risque, and sexual content. In India, the anime series was banned for a while in 2009 for promoting the use of inappropriate language and sexual exploitation of minors, particularly nudity. A [[{{Bowdlerised}} heavily censored]] version, which made the show more appropriate to the target audience, was allowed into the country, leading to a huge fan following there. In Spain's Valencia region, the anime series was pulled from the air by RTVV (Radiotelevisió Valenciana) on November 29, 2002, due to the show's content not being "suitable" for children's programming. In Vietnam, the manga was [[https://nld.com.vn/ban-doc/tam-dung-xuat-ban-shin-cau-be-but-chi-160737.htm banned]] in 2006 after six volumes because of intense backlash from MoralGuardians. Years later, the manga was eventually rereleased in the country in a censored form.
33* In ''Anime/DragonBallZFusionReborn,'' The Dictator was removed from the French, German, and Hebrew dub due to ThoseWackyNazis and [[NoSwastikas strict laws in Germany about references to the Nazi regime and to avoid insulting Israelis and Holocaust survivors after World War II.]] All swastikas are also replaced with red X's. Additionally, all "third reich" references are removed. Even the entire scenes with the dictator were removed in Toonami and Nicktoons USA airings of the film for the reason above.
34
35[[AC:Comic Books]]
36* ''ComicBook/{{Persepolis}}'' is banned in Iran for its negative portrayal of the Iranian government. The film adaptation was briefly banned in Lebanon for the same reason, but was lifted following outcries from the country's intellectuals and politicians.
37* English-language publishers refused to publish the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' comic book ''[[Recap/TintinTintinInTheCongo Tintin in the Congo]]'' until 2005, due to its racist depictions of Africans and pro-colonial message. When it was finally published in the UK, it carried a forward that placed these elements in a historical context. Ironically, the book is [[MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales pretty popular in sub-Saharan Africa]], including the Congo. [[PopCultureUrbanLegends Contrary to popular belief]], the comic was never banned in South Africa as commonly reported.
38
39[[AC:Films -- Animated]]
40* ''WesternAnimation/{{Abominable}}'' was banned in Vietnam and eventually pulled from Malaysia and the Philippines because an onscreen map showed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-dash_line the nine-dash line]] over the South China Sea. This line represents China's territorial claims in the region, which are disputed by several countries in Southeast Asia. However the movie would later be allowed onto streaming services in those countries with the offending map removed.
41* ''WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}}'' has been banned in 14 countries across the Middle East (including Syria) and Southeast Asia (including Indonesia and Malaysia) over a 10-second same sex kissing scene (with Commander Hawthorne and her wife), as the authorities in those countries consider LGBT characters and themes as offensive. It is [[https://www.thejakartapost.com/amp/culture/2022/06/15/indonesias-censor-board-says-it-has-not-banned-of-lightyear-despite-same-sex-kiss.html reported]] that Indonesian censors stated that they didn't ban the movie in the country,  "but suggested the owner of the movie think about their audience in Indonesia where an LGBT kissing scene is still considered sensitive." It was also [[https://eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-joins-club-of-countries-banning-lightyear-over-same-sex-kiss banned in Kazakhstan]] for the same reasons after the country's Culture and Sports Minister responded to calls from local conservative and religious groups to ban the film. Despite that, the film was allowed to be screened in Singapore as the ban was overturned in that country not much later, but with an [[SameContentDifferentRating NC16 rating,]] and the film was later put on Disney+ Hotstar in Malaysia with an 18 rating and in Indonesia with an 21+ rating (over typical 17+).
42* The Creator/{{Disney}}- Creator/{{Pixar}} film ''WesternAnimation/{{Onward}}'' experienced some international censorship due to the presence of a minor character who is openly lesbian. The movie was outright banned in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, though it was still legally screened in several other Arab/Muslim countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Meanwhile in Russia, the local dub altered the character's dialogue to remove any mention of homosexuality, due to a Russian law which prohibits any "pro-gay propaganda" in children's media.
43* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' was banned in the Maldives, Malaysia, and Egypt. In the former two countries, it was because of Islamic custom of never portraying the image of the prophets, which includes Moses, his brother Aaron, and his father-in-law Jethro. In Egypt, it was mostly because of the villainous portrayal of Pharaoh Rameses, a well-respected historical leader whom the Egyptians hold to be separate from the Pharaoh of Exodus.[[note]]For anybody who's interested, historians say the Pharaoh of Exodus could be either Dudimose, Ahmose I, Thutmose III, Horemheb, Ramesses I, or Ramesses II, with both Dumidose and Ramesses II being the least supported theories among scholars in the field and Thutmose III being the most supported. The debate continues to this day.[[/note]] Malaysia has since rescinded the ban in 2001, allowing the film to finally went straight to video and air on Pay TV. Malaysia later had one local theme park play it regularly in their in-park cinema as well as on video monitors throughout the park in heavy rotation.
44* Disney announced that ''WesternAnimation/StrangeWorld'' theatrical release has been skipped (and not submitted to local authorities) in Bangladesh, China, the Middle East, Indonesia, Malaysia, [[https://deadline.com/2022/11/strange-world-disney-censorship-middle-east-international-box-office-preview-1235178513/amp/ Maldives,]] Nepal, Pakistan, Turkey, and Vietnam, among many others, which was tantamount to a ban in those regions. This was due to a subplot regarding Ethan's gay relationship with Daizo in the film.
45
46[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
47* ''Film/{{All Quiet on the Western Front|1930}}'' was banned in both Austria and Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945 for its anti-war and perceived anti-German messages. It was also banned in Germany between 1930 and 1931 due to violent protests staged by the Nazis, some of which were led by future Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels; it was briefly unbanned following heavy censorship. Conversely, the film was banned in Poland because it was seen as ''pro-German''.
48* ''Film/{{Barbie|2023}}'' was [[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/barbie-banned-in-vietnam-b2368846.html preemptively banned]] in Vietnam due to one scene featuring a map that includes the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-dash_line Nine-Dash Line]], a marking used by China to claim ownership of disputed territories in the South China Sea. It has since [[https://apnews.com/article/algeria-barbie-movie-censorship-ce94a6ffd2cddf3228855d97af27b4cd also been banned]] in Kuwait, Lebanon and Algeria over alleged references to homosexuality.
49* ''Film/TheBattleshipPotemkin'' was banned in Finland, France, Nazi Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom at various points for fears it would spark a communist revolution.
50* ''Film/{{Borat}}'' got banned in every single Arab country except for Lebanon as the film censors in those countries found it impossible to even censor without leaving plot holes open. In one account, a censor in the United Arab Emirates stated that only half an hour of the film would have been left had they censored the offensive scenes rather than ban it outright. In fact, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he and his colleagues walked out of the room before it even]] ''[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere ended]]''. Similarly, Kazakhstan banned the film for similar reasons, as well portraying the country in a negative light, but later relented after [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134025/Glorious-nation-Kazakhstan-salute-Borat-After-banning-film-country-ridiculed-comic-THANK-tourist-boom.html the government admitted to a tourist boom linked to the film's popularity]]. In addition, the Russian Ministry of Culture recommended that the film not be shown in theaters, at least partly out of fear that the film would stoke racial tensions against the country's substantial Central Asian minority population.
51* ''Film/{{Caligula}}'' was banned on initial release in Australia, Canada (except in Quebec, where it was rated 18+), Iceland, and the United Kingdom for its explicit sexual content. The uncut version was eventually rated by the BBFC in 2008. Various cities in the United States also unsuccessfully tried to block its distribution.
52* ''Film/CannibalHolocaust'' was banned in Australia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United Kingdom at various points for is graphic violence and unsimulated animal cruelty. It briefly saw a theatrical release in the United States before being pulled due to the film's controversy. It was eventually released uncensored in Australia, Italy, and the United States, with the former two rating it R18+ and [=VM18=] respectively, and the BBFC eventually allowed for it to be released after trimming 15 seconds from the scene of a coati being killed. Bootleg copies continue to proliferate in the Philippines, however.
53* ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' was banned in Brazil, the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Nova Scotia, Ireland, South Africa, and South Korea for excessive violence and strong sexual content. A censored version that placed {{Censor Box}}es over the nudity was eventually permitted in Brazil, while the rest eventually allowed for it to be released uncensored. Creator/StanleyKubrick voluntarily withdrew it from distribution in the United Kingdom after hearing of copycat crimes and rapes inspired by the movie and fearing for his own safety (likening himself to the film's ReclusiveArtist); it was eventually released there following his death in 1999.
54* The film adaptation of ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' is banned in Egypt, parts of India, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, [[https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/samoa-bans-the-code-20060522-gdnlf5.html Samoa]], the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, and by the Vatican because its content was deemed blasphemous. Conservative groups in the Philippines tried to pressure the government to ban it, but only succeeded in banning it in Manilia. SM Supermalls, the largest chain of shopping malls in the country, also prohibited the showing of movie in all of their theaters, but only because it was rated R18.
55* The 2022 adaptation of ''[[Film/DeathOnTheNile2022 Death on the Nile]]'' is banned in Kuwait, Lebanon, and Tunisia because a major character is played by Creator/GalGadot, who is Israeli and supports the IDF (being a former IDF soldier herself).
56* ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' is [[https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/hollywood/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness-banned-in-saudi-arabia-reports-7883116/lite/ banned in Saudi Arabia and several other Middle-Eastern countries]] because of the prominent role of America Chavez; while the movie does not show if like in the comics she's a lesbian, there is a brief scene revealing she has two moms.
57* ''Film/{{Eternals}}'' is banned in the Gulf States due to containing many sexually intimate scenes, including a scene where Phastos kisses his husband, and its plot centering around deities.
58* ''Film/{{The Evil Dead|1981}}'' was banned in Iceland, Ireland, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and West Germany for its extreme violence and gore. It was eventually released uncensored in 2001 in the UK. Contrary to popular belief, it was never part of the VideoNasties list.
59* Infamous {{Mondo}} film ''Film/FacesOfDeath'' claims on its blurb that is "Banned in 46 countries!", but the actual number is unknown. Australia, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom each banned it on its initial release. Australia eventually allowed it uncensored with the R18+ rating, but its sequels remain banned.
60* Malaysia banned ''Film/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' for its "sadistic" and "unnatural" content. It's also been banned in Kenya, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and India, for unspecified reasons. Interestingly, the novels are not banned in UAE, and can be displayed quite prominently in bookstores, including, of all places, Abu Dhabi International Airport.
61* ''Film/{{Freaks}}'' was banned on initial release in Ireland, Italy, Finland, and the United Kingdom.
62* ''Film/TheGreatDictator'' was banned under the various dictatorships of Argentina, Brazil, Nazi Germany, Paraguay, and Spain for its satire of fascism. Adolf Hitler, the main subject of satire, nonetheless managed to obtain a private copy and viewed it twice. His opinion on the film has been a matter of debate.
63* The 1985 Creator/JeanLucGodard film ''Hail Mary'', which is a modern retelling of the Virgin Birth, was banned in both Argentina and Brazil for mixing sexual content with religious content, something the countries' large Catholic population considered blasphemous. Brazil later pulled the ban, though.
64* The uncut version of ''Film/HenryPortraitOfASerialKiller'' was initially banned in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom for its graphic violence. The BBFC finally approved the uncut version in 2003 after numerous unsuccessful appeals throughout TheNineties, while the former two countries eventually lifted their bans by the end of the 2000s. The film also couldn't find a distributor in the United States, despite receiving glowing praise from critics like Creator/RogerEbert, due to the MPAA giving it an "X" rating (severely limiting the theaters it could be shown in) and announcing it was not possible for it to be cut down to an "R". This, alongside similar controversies with ''Film/TheCookTheThiefHisWifeAndHerLover'' and ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'', played a significant role in the MPAA eventually replacing the "X" rating it with the "NC-17" rating.
65* The live-action adaptation of ''Manga/IchiTheKiller'' is banned outright in Norway and Malaysia, and distribution is prohibited in Germany, for its extreme violence. It was refused classification by the BBFC, necessitating a censored version that cut over three minutes for it to be released in the UK. The Hong Kong version also removed close to 17 minutes of film.
66* ''Film/LastTangoInParis'' was banned on initial release in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, and Venezuela for strong sexual content and its graphic depiction of sexual violence. It was unbanned in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain, and Portugal following the ends of their respective military dictatorships, and Italy allowed for its release in 1986. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia banned it, leading to the landmark ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova_Scotia_(Board_of_Censors)_v_McNeil Nova Scotia (Board of Censors) v McNeil]]'' decision, which ruled that individual provinces had the right to censor films.
67* ''Film/TheLastTemptationOfChrist'' was banned in Argentina, Chile, Israel, Mexico, the Philippines, [[https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_downloads/2020/02/0220_Netflix_EnvironmentalSocialGovernanceReport_FINAL.pdf Singapore]], and Turkey for its allegedly blashphemous content. It was unbanned in Chile in 2003 after the film became a symbol in the 90s for the fight against censorship and conservatism in Chilean society, and was only unbanned in Mexico in ''2005''. Unlike with the aformentioned ''Cannibal Holocaust'' and ''Da Vinci Code'', bootlegs of this film can not be found in the Philippines.
68* ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' was banned in Ireland and Norway, the former from 1979 until 1987 and the latter for just one year, due to its satire of early Christianity. As a result, the movie was marketed in Sweden with the TagLine "The film so funny it was banned in Norway!"
69* ''Film/{{Nekromantik}}'' is banned in Australia, Iceland, and Norway for its disgusting subject matter.
70* Creator/DarrenAronofsky's ''Film/{{Noah}}'' is banned in the Gulf States and Indonesia as it contradicts the Islamic teachings where Noah is considered one of the important prophets of Allah.
71* The 1948 film of ''Literature/OliverTwist'' was banned in Israel because it was felt Creator/AlecGuinness's Fagin was an anti-Semitic stereotype. It was banned in Egypt because ''they'' felt Fagin was portrayed ''sympathetically''.
72* ''Film/{{Padmaavat}}'' is banned in Malaysia. It was also banned in four Indian states until the Supreme Court of India overruled the ban.
73* ''Film/PathsOfGlory'' was banned in France and Switzerland until the death of President UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle in 1970 due to its critical depiction of the French Army during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Germany also banned it until 1959 to avoid straining relations with France, while Spain banned it until 1986 due to its anti-militarism themes.
74* ''Film/SaloOrThe120DaysOfSodom'' was banned in Australia, Finland, Iran, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka for its graphic violence and nudity. The bans were eventually lifted in Australia, Finland, and New Zealand.
75* ''Film/SavageManSavageBeast'' was banned in Australia and Finland for containing actual scenes of animal cruelty and human deaths. Australia eventually permitted the release of a censored version with a R18+ rating. The uncensored version was also immediately banned in the UK, and nearly ten minutes' worth of footage had to be removed before it could be passed (with an X rating) by the BBFC.
76* The extremely graphic and disturbing nature of ''Film/ASerbianFilm'' resulted in the movie being banned in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Norway. It was also temporarily banned in Brazil and Spain until it was eventually released with some cuts made to the film to excise the more disgusting scenes.
77* The original ''[[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]'' has been banned in various countries for its intense violence. Notable countries include Australia, Brazil, Chile, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and West Germany. It was eventually released uncensored in Australia and the United Kingdom. Like with ''Evil Dead'' it was never part of the Video Nasties list as popularly believed, as it was banned before the list was created.
78* ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' was banned from multiple Arabic-speaking countries, and was also [[ReleaseDateChange originally postponed for a few times]] in Malaysia before being cancelled there, with the official reason given was due to one scene where Chris Hemsworth appeared completely naked (although only his back was shown) and that Disney refused the film board's demands to pixellate or blur out Hemsworth's butt in that scene. However, those who watched the movie thought that the character [[BigBad Gorr the God Butcher]] was the real reason why it was banned. Either that, or a scene of a pair of male humanoid aliens [[ItMakesSenseInContext kissing to produce a new offspring]]. The film was later quietly released onto Disney+ Hotstar in Malaysia without any fanfare and with a 18+ rating.
79* ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' is banned in Lebanon, Qatar, and Tunisia because the title character is played by Israeli actress Creator/GalGadot. It didn't happen with ''Film/WonderWoman1984'' however.
80
81[[AC:Literature]]
82* There are entire lists of "challenged books", the most famous of which being that of the American Library Association (ALA)'s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), who states the top three reasons for challenging books are because they had "sexually explicit" content, "offensive" language, or were "unsuited to age group".
83* ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' was banned in various communist countries due to being an unflattering allegory for UsefulNotes/JosefStalin's reign, and was banned in the United Arab Emirates because pigs serve as the book's protagonists. The bans have since been lifted in their respective countries, though mentions of it was censored on the Chinese internet.
84* ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' was banned on initial publication in Australia and Ireland due to its depictions of drug use, sexuality, and suicide. Both bans have since been lifted.
85* Creator/ErnestHemingway's ''Literature/AFarewellToArms'' was banned in Italy, Nazi Germany, Ireland, and the U.S. city of Boston. The former two was due to its anti-militarism themes (and its depiction of Italy's abysmal performance at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Caporetto Battle of Caporetto]] during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI), and the latter two for its sexual content.
86* ''Literature/{{Lolita}}'' was banned in Argentina, Canada, France, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom due to its controversial subject matter.
87* ''Literature/MeinKampf'' is banned in Austria, Guatemala, the Netherlands, Poland, and Russia for being UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler's manifesto. In the case of the Netherlands, it's because the government claims copyright of it, and has used its claim to barr printing, sales, and purchases of the book (except for an annotated scientific edition sold at the Kamp Westerbork museum, a former Nazi concentration camp on Dutch soil, which they permitted since 2018); owning it is still legal. It is '''not''' banned in Germany as commonly believed;[[note]]A 1979 legal decision declared that it could not be subject to laws against "unconstitutional propaganda" as it was first published before the introduction of the then-West German constitution.[[/note]] the state of Bavaria (Hitler's legal residence at the time of his death) held the copyright and simply chose not to publish it. The book became public domain in 2016 and is now published and sold within the country again.
88* ''Literature/TheSatanicVerses'' was so notoriously controversial for its blasphemous depiction of UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad, that it was banned in over 15 countries due to its offensiveness to Muslims.
89* ''Film/SophiesChoice'' was banned in South Africa and the author's native Poland for its frank depiction of Polish antisemitism, and in Lebanon for its positive portrayal of Jewish characters.
90* Children's novel ''Literature/TheStoryOfFerdinand'' was banned in Italy, Nazi Germany, and Spain under their respective fascist regimes because the story of a bull who doesn't want to partake in bullfighting was considered to be pacifist/communist brainwashing.
91* ''Literature/TropicOfCancer'' was banned in Australia, Canada, Finland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom for its explicit sexual content. The book was also banned in the United States for over 30 years, until the Supreme Court ruled in 1964 that it was not obscene.
92* ''Literature/TheTurnerDiaries'' is banned in Austria, Canada, France, and Germany for its extremely racist content. Digital and physical copies were [[https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/12/22227049/amazon-the-turner-diaries-q-anon-purge-removal-capitol-attack also pulled from Amazon]] following the 2021 US Capitol attack.
93
94[[AC:Live Action TV]]
95* A lesbian "kiss" was cut from the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E1DeepBreath ''Deep Breath'']] when it aired in Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, although it is available uncut for streaming on BBC Player in Malaysia and Singapore. The hot air balloon made of human skin in the same episode was apparently just fine, though.
96* The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council once [[https://www.cbsc.ca/news-releases/page/power-rangers-too-violent-says-ontario-council declared]] ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' to be too violent for children's programming, which resulted in the series being barred from airing on Canadian airwaves.[[note]]Later on, they [[https://www.cbsc.ca/news-releases/page/content-of-power-rangers-wild-force-series-is-not-problematicsays-canadian-broadcast-standards-council declared]] that ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'' was not too violent, unlike the original series.[[/note]] The ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' franchise was also once banned from TV in New Zealand after its first season (until the ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' season) due to complaints from parents whose children injured themselves trying to imitate the show's fight scenes. What's weird is that every series from ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' onward is filmed on location in New Zealand with New Zealand-born actors and actresses. Also, while the ''Power Rangers'' franchise wasn't outright banned in Malaysia (although there are episodes that are withheld from broadcast), the Malaysian censors rather hilariously refused to allow use of the word "morphin'", largely due to outcry from [[MoralGuardians helicopter mums]] that the word was too close to the word "morphine" and would [[InsaneTrollLogic convince young viewers to use drugs]].
97* The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E12TheHighGround The High Ground]]" was banned by the national broadcasters for Ireland and the United Kingdom because Data mention that Ireland was reunited in 2024 after a successful "terrorist" campaign. Not helping matters was the plot was based around a FantasticRacism metaphor for UsefulNotes/TheTroubles. It wasn't until 2006 and 2007 that the full version was broadcasted in Ireland and the UK respectively.
98
99[[AC:Music]]
100* Music/TheBeatles were banned in Greece because their music and appearances were deemed corrupting to the youth, were informally banned in the Philippines after they failed to attend an event hosted by Imelda Marcos that involved dozens of school kids during their 1965 World Tour,[[note]]Music/GeorgeHarrison said he did feel guilty about it for years, until the Marcos regime was unmasked as being a dictatorship, which made their refusal a relief to him.[[/note]] and were banned in the Soviet Union because they were deemed "subversive" (although they did flourish on the black market; the documentary ''How the Beatles Rocked The Kremlin'' addresses this topic.). This mean that "[[Music/TheWhiteAlbum Back in the U.S.S.R.]]" [[{{Irony}} could not be legally played in the actual U.S.S.R]]. "[[Music/RubberSoul Norwegian Wood]]" was once banned in South Korea for its 'indecent' lyrics; the [[Literature/NorwegianWood novel of the same name]] by Creator/HarukiMurakami had its title translated to ''The Age of Loss'' because most readers would not have heard of the song.
101* Music/SnoopDogg was banned from performing live in Australia and Norway due to his copious drug use, and he was briefly banned from the United Kingdom because of his role in the killing of a rival gang member.
102
103[[AC:Video Games]]
104* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' was initially refused classification in Australia for drug use, while Microsoft refused to allow the Platform/Xbox360 version to be sold in India likely due to the appearance of mutated cattle called [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Brahmin_(Fallout_3) Brahmin]] possibly being offensive to Hindus. It was eventually released in the former with a [=MA15+=] rating after the aforementioned drug was changed from morphine to the generically named "Med-X", a change made to all versions. Japan almost banned it due to "The Power of the Atom" sidequest, which gave the main character the option to either disarm or detonate a nuclear bomb worshipped by residents of a town, but ultimately gave it a "Z" (Adults Only) rating after the detonation option was disabled.
105* Taiwanese indie fighting game ''VideoGame/FightOfGods'' is banned in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand because its premise, a fighting game where various deities and prophets such as Jesus and Buddha were playable characters, was considered offensive. In Malaysia's case, it resulted in the ''entire Platform/{{Steam}} store'' being blocked for 24 hours (and due to poor communication, the ban came into effect four hours after Valve has quietly pulled the game from the country's storefront). Ironically, Singaporean media was one of the many foreign news outlets who ridiculed Malaysia when they first banned it, even publishing a side article on why Singapore will never ban the game.
106* Gungho Entertainment, makers of ''VideoGame/PuzzleAndDragons'', ''VideoGame/{{Ninjala}}'', among others, is an odd case in that they were not ''banned'', strictly speaking, but chose not to compromise: in response to anti-gambling laws in Belgium and the Netherlands declaring lootboxes as a form of gambling, Gungho Entertainment stopped selling to these two countries completely.
107* ''VideoGame/LuckBeALandlord'' is [[https://blog.trampolinetales.com/luck-be-a-landlord-is-now-banned-in-13-countries-on-the-google-play-store/ banned from the Google Play Store]] in the UAE, Algeria, Iran, Jordan, South Korea, Libya, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen for violating their gambling policies. [[https://blog.trampolinetales.com/luck-be-a-landlord-unbanned/ The ban in South Korea was then lifted]] on January 22, 2024.
108* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}} 2'' is banned in Germany, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom (the only video game to be refused classification by the BBFC) due to its excessive violence. The ban in New Zealand was lifted two weeks after release, and a censored version was eventually approved in the UK after initially being rejected. The ESRB also rated the uncut version for consoles AO (Adults Only), effectively banning in from major retailers in the United States, Canada and Mexico, necessitating a censored version to get an M rating. The PC version nonetheless was released uncut in those territories.
109* In a rather odd in-game example the casino in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoOnline'' will be locked out if the Rockstar servers detect that you're in one of the [[https://esports-news.co.uk/2019/08/26/countries-that-have-banned-the-new-gta-casino-and-why/ 55 countries]] that prohibit online gambling.[[note]]You can only gamble with in-game money and there's no way to redeem in-game money for anything outside of the game, but money can be purchased with actual money via "Shark Cards"[[/note]] You can go in the building and spin the wheel for the free car each day, but you won't be able to purchase chips or sit down at any of the tables.
110* ''VideoGame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'' is banned in Afghanistan, India, Iraq, and Nepal on the grounds that it had a negative impact on the youth and, in India's case, for being distributed by Tencent following border clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in 2020. Nepal's ban has since been lifted.
111* ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' was banned in Iran, and several provinces in the Philippines for security reasons and (in the case of the Philippines) negative press attention the pre-release got. Contrary to popular belief tho, the game was never banned in Malaysia (it only appeared that way due to LateExportForYou owing to Niantic's being secretive of their schedule), although the government has made it clear that government officials and military personnel are not allowed to play the game.
112* ''VideoGame/Postal2'' is banned in Germany, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia for its extreme violence and use of ethnic stereotypes. The game was banned in Germany a decade after its release, but one can still purchase the game digitally in Malaysia and Pakistan.
113* Rape simulator ''[=RapeLay=]'' is banned in Argentina (the only video game to be banned there), Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Thailand for condoning and glamorizing sexual violence.
114* In 2023, ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'' was reportedly being [[https://gamerant.com/spider-man-2-game-ban-delay-middle-east-countries-possibile/ banned or delayed in some Middle Eastern countries]] due to the presence of LGBT content. [[https://gamerant.com/spider-man-2-lgbtq-pride-flags-removed-saudi-arabia/ A censored Arabic version of the game was released]], which removed Pride flags and altered a side mission featuring a gay couple.
115
116[[AC:WebOriginal]]
117* Various popular websites have frequently been banned or censored in numerous countries around the world for political reasons. They include {{Website/Facebook}} ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_Facebook]]), {{Website/Twitter}} ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_Twitter]]), {{Website/Wikipedia}} ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_Wikipedia]]), and Platform/YouTube ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_YouTube]]), just to name a few.
118* The streaming service {{Creator/Netflix}} has released [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-titles-removed-government-demands-1277175?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0eSPSrZXUIlM3P086UBzc0VheQh40efGA0qCn8oBIyNtPDdpzbp7pSf_M a list of 9 movies and shows that it removed based on pressures from various national governments]].
119* Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn:
120** As of February 2020, the site has apparently been banned in China. On the 29th of February, Archive staff responded to reports that the site was inaccessible that the matter had been investigated and the problem was not on their end. There have been some rumors that this was due to complaints by one of the actors in the Chinese drama, Series/TheUntamed, over the portrayals of his character in fandom, especially ones involving queer content. This makes the situation quite ironic if the rumors are true. The Untamed is adapted from a popular Boys Love web novel, ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi''.
121** On 13 December 2022, the site was "indexed" in Germany due to "child pornography content", temporarily removing it from Google search results for German IP addresses. In January 2023, the ban was lifted as a result of administrative errors.
122** In March 2023, Roskomnadzor had requested the site to delete 16 fics, containing "child pornography". The site was subsequently blocked in Russia on 14 April 2023, after failing to comply with the request. A Ukrainian [=Twitter=] user claimed responsibility for the report in a deleted tweet.
123* Website/TheBestPageInTheUniverse:
124** The site is banned in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. And the creator is proud of it. He even once traveled to Dubai to verify that his site is indeed banned there and to litter printouts of his website around the city to taunt the ban. (Turns out he was banned for a technicality, not content, but he thinks it still counts.) He also made a dick out of their largest skyscraper.
125** In a case of UnPerson, the site is also banned in stores or other workplaces associated with {{Creator/Apple}}, in such a way that suggests the site doesn't even exist at all (attempts to access it from those [=IPs=] instead redirect to a [=MacBook=] Pro ad).
126---> ''[[{{Irony}} Yes, the company that once alluded to an Orwellian future with controlled media, is now controlling media.]]''
127* The WebAnimation/OverSimplified videos on Adolf Hitler are blocked on Platform/YouTube in some of the European countries, for [[AdolfHitlarious obvious]] [[NoSwastikas reasons.]] This fact is even acknowledged during some of the [=NordVPN=] sponsor sections in some videos. [[https://i.imgur.com/c15z4YM.png Here's the full list of countries which banned the videos.]]
128
129[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
130* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' has been banned in numerous countries, including Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan, most likely due to its mature content and the AnimationAgeGhetto having a strong presence. It was banned in Malaysia at one point, but the ban has been rescinded, although it now only airs in a heavily butchered form on satellite TV. According to one of the writers, the show did receive a short-lived Korean dub in South Korea before it got axed. Despite this, the show still has its animation outsourced there. Also, South Africa rescinded the ban around 2010, and aired until 2021 on FOX Africa via the South African cable provider DS TV until that channel closed ahead of the country's Disney+ launch in May 2022 (where it currently streams there). Taiwan had since lifted the ban and is currently showing on FOX Taiwan with dubs and cuts.
131* Some episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' are banned in certain European and Asian countries (such as Poland, Russia, Turkey, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and even the Nordic countries[[note]]the Centre and Eastern European feeds of Nickelodeon merged with the former Nordic feed in December 25, 2021, despite the Nordic countries generally being sympathetic to LGBT+ causes[[/note]]) due to the depiction of same-gender relationships (specifically, Clyde's dads and Luna's relationship with Sam, though some dubs got around this by [[ShesAManInJapan changing their genders]]). "Cheater by the Dozen" is also banned in both Indonesia and Malaysia due to sexual innuendo.
132* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' had some difficulty releasing on Creator/DisneyPlus in Singapore, but eventually managed to squeak it onto the platform, albeit not without multiple missing episodes and an abnormally high [=NC16=] rating.
133** The Hungarian and Czech dubs were supposed to air on Disney Channel in 2021, but instead premiered on Disney+ in June 2022.
134* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' was banned in Middle Eastern countries (and Sri Lanka[[note]]due to its unflattering depiction of Buddha and Jesus in "200", showing the double standards of mocking religious figures[[/note]]) for its offensive content. The show was also once banned in India and South Korea for similar reasons, though the show was later made available on Netflix in the latter country for few years. The show was also semi-banned in Malaysia, while in China, it was banned as a whole there due to its political jokes about that country. Some episodes were [[BannedEpisode banned in some countries,]] but "200" and "201" were banned worldwide due to a major religious controversy surrounding the two-parter episode.
135* Three ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episodes are banned from the Asian feed of Cartoon Network for numerous reasons:
136** "The Chaff" was banned due to the episode containing multiple instances of ToiletHumor, including a giant butt and the ending scene where [[spoiler: Beast Boy and Cyborg sing about poop]].
137** "Butt Atoms" was banned because of excessive ToiletHumor.
138** "Lucky Stars" was banned due to the plot revolving around superstitions related to romance.
139
140[[/folder]]
141
142[[folder:Afghanistan]]
143[[AC:General]]
144* The Taliban was notorious for banning any work of art considered contrary to the values of their particular brand of Islam. At its worst, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned all movies, television, and non-religious music, as the regime deemed any sort of artistic or literary depiction of ''anyone'' to be a form of idolatry, which was far worse so than the taboo on depicting the Prophet Muhammed.
145
146[[AC:Film]]
147* The film adaptation of ''Literature/TheKiteRunner'' was banned in 2007 for containing a rape scene, and fears it would exacerbate tensions between the country's ethnic groups.
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder:Albania]]
151[[AC:General]]
152* It should be noted that Albania was the most repressed country in Europe and also was one of the isolated countries in the world until TheNineties (especially under Enver Hoxha). The country followed the Stalinist style, thus it banned anything foreign, banned international travel, [[IllegalReligion forbade religion]] (with atheism in place of Islam or Christianity) and outlawed private property.
153
154[[AC:VideoGames]]
155* Albania banned video games from 1975 until Albania's transition to democracy and the fall of Communism in 1990.
156* In 2018, Albania made [[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-albania-gambling-ban-idUSKCN1MZ2GR sports betting and online gambling illegal]].
157
158[[/folder]]
159
160[[folder:Argentina]]
161[[AC:Music]]
162
163* The lyrics[[note]]In English: I'm gratefull to adversity,\and the hand holding the knife,\for it did a bad job at killing me\and I carried on singing.\Singing to the sun\Like the cicada does\after a year under the ground\like a survivor\who is coming back from war[[/note]] of Creator/MariaElenaWalsh's song "Como la cigarra" led to its prohibition during the last four years of the Argentinian UsefulNotes/NationalReorganizationProcess. Singer Mercedes Sosa was not allowed to include it in her record "Serenata para la tierra de uno" (serenade for one's homeland). In 1978 she got away with featuring it in the Mexican edition.
164
165[[AC:Western Animation]]
166* The season 19 ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E10EPluribusWiggum "E Pluribus Wiggum"]], although nominally about [[TheDitz Ralph Wiggum]] being written in as a candidate for U.S. President, was temporarily banned in Argentina for a side conversation that made fun of Argentina. Specifically, Lenny and Carl call Juan Peron the country's best leader because "when he 'disappeared' you, you ''stayed'' 'disappeared'!" and equate Peron's wife Evita with the singer Music/{{Madonna}} (who did play her in a film adaptation of the musical ''Theatre/{{Evita}}''). Many other Latin American countries followed suit, taking it as a mockery of their culture as a whole. This kind of thing never stopped ''The Simpsons'', though, which appears several more times on this page for similar reasons.
167[[/folder]]
168
169[[folder:Austria]]
170[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
171* The French play ''Theatre/TheMarriageOfFigaro'' was banned by Emperor Joseph due to its political subject matter and fears of a copycat unrest similar to that which would later claim the life of [[UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette his sister]]. Contrary to popular belief, though, he approved Mozart's opera adaptation from the start, as being a self-admitted apolitical he had already removed the offending material.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Azerbaijan]]
175[[AC:{{Film}}]]
176* Any film that depicts Armenians in any positive light is banned. This even includes a film by [[http://panarmenian.net/eng/culture/news/63440/Baku_gets_to_absurdity_a_positive_film_about_Armenians_banned_in_Azerbaijan Azeri director Eldar Guliev]] entitled ''Hostage'', which depicts an Armenian hostage in the Nagorno-Karabakh War in a human light. This is because since Azerbaijan lost that war, the {{demonization}} of Armenians has become state policy.
177
178[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
179* Copies of Literature/TheBible [[http://bringonthegoodnews.blogspot.com/2010/05/azerbaijanis-bible-banned.html will apparently be confiscated by border patrol]] when entering Azerbaijan.
180[[/folder]]
181
182[[folder:Bangladesh]]
183* Bangladesh has been known to prevent the release of certain works not in the Bengali language. Much of what it imports comes through neighboring India, and much of that is made or dubbed in Hindi; the government wanted to fend off the growing influence of the Hindi language in Bangladesh. In particular, ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' couldn't be shown on television unless it was dubbed in Bengali.
184* The channel Animax was banned in 2010 for airing anime targeted at teens and adults and has remained banned to date. At the time there was no distinction in Bangladesh between animated content and all of it was assumed to be directed at children. Thus the ban is somewhat justified.
185* The government has banned every porn website it could think of.
186[[/folder]]
187
188[[folder:Barbados]]
189[[AC:{{Film}}--Live Action]]
190* ''Film/BlackSwan'' was temporarily banned due to the lesbian sex scene which censors saw as "offensive sexual behavior." Public protest and a petition against the ban got it overturned, and the film was eventually released with an R-rating.
191[[/folder]]
192
193[[folder:Belarus]]
194[[AC:{{Film}}]]
195* Creator/SachaBaronCohen's ''Film/TheDictator'' is banned in Belarus; although it doesn't explicitly mention the country, the government probably saw too many parallels between the eponymous character and the country's president Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994.
196[[/folder]]
197
198[[folder:Belgium]]
199[[AC: {{Literature}}]]
200* Creator/HermanBrusselmans, a writer who regularly pokes fun at Flemish celebrities in a degrading and largely inaccurate manner, sparked a controversy when one of his victims, fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester, convinced a court to ban his novel ''Guggenheimer Wast Witter'' in 1999. Belgians were outraged at what they saw as preventive censorship with no chance for the author to really defend himself; they circumvented the ban by importing the book from the Netherlands. In 2011, former Belgian Prime Minister and then-EU governor Herman van Rompuy introduced an EU-wide law preventing this sort of judicial order, which led to the ban being overturned.
201
202[[AC:Music]]
203* In 2005, Music/{{Madonna}}'s song "[[Music/RayOfLight "Frozen"]]" was banned in Belgium over a copyright dispute; composer Salvatore Acquaviva claimed she had plagiarized it from a few bars of his song "Ma vie fout le camp". Then another composer, Edouard Scotto di Suoccio, claimed that ''both'' songs were plagiarized from a song ''he'' composed in 1983. A Belgian court sorted through the mess in 2014, determined that none of the songs were "sufficiently original" to even plagiarize, and lifted the ban on "Frozen".
204
205[[AC: {{Video Games}}]]
206* In light of the controversy surrounding loot box/gacha style {{Microtransactions}} that errupted in the latter half of TheNewTens, Belgium took an aggressive approach and declared them gambling and therefore illegal. As a result, several video games have had their microtransaction systems disabled in the country in order to comply with the law, and others that have such mechanics as their primary monetization systems (such as Nintendo's ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingPocketCamp'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'') have completely shut down in the country.
207[[/folder]]
208
209[[folder:Bhutan]]
210Bhutan is a very small, isolated kingdom in the Himalayas with an old and distinctive culture; and as such, the government has taken great measures to limit or eliminate foreign influences in the country, including in media. Even Western clothes and ProfessionalWrestling are considered corrupting influences there. Bhutan's domestic film industry only began in 1989, while television and internet weren't even allowed until 1999.
211[[/folder]]
212
213[[folder:Brazil]]
214[[AC:ComicBooks]]
215* [[https://www.cbr.com/brazil-mayor-rio-de-janero-blast-marvel-young-avengers-ban/ In 2019]], the mayor of Rio de Janeiro ordered ''ComicBook/AvengersTheChildrensCrusade'' to be banned from the Riocentro Bienal do Livro, Brazil’s most important literary event, because of the gay romance between Hulking and Wiccan. However, [[StreisandEffect this massively backfired and caused the comic to sell out]] before any of the authorities could take it.
216
217[[AC:{{Film}}]]
218* In 1994, the Brazilian government banned ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Citizen_Kane Beyond Citizen Kane]]'', a documentary created by Simon Hartog critical of Brazilian media MegaCorp [[Creator/{{TVGlobo}} Globo]]; it even compared Globo's owner with the fictional Charles Foster Kane. Globo has been accused of pressuring the government to ban it. The only way to really see it was to be a member of a university club which had a pirated copy -- until the Internet made it to Brazil, at which point the controversy had shed enough light on media ethics that Globo's reputation had ''somewhat'' improved in the meantime.
219
220[[AC:VideoGames]]
221
222Although some video games are nominally banned in Brazil, in practice banning games is useless there because (a) piracy is rampant and (b) most such bans are judicial orders, which are nearly impossible to enforce, have limited jurisdiction, and in some cases are unconstitutional. That hasn't stopped them from trying, though:
223* In 1997 and 1998, the original ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' and the two ''VideoGame/{{Carmageddon}}'' games were banned because they glamorized car theft and vehicular homicide.
224* In 1999, a shootout at a São Paulo movie theater closely resembled the first level of ''VideoGame/DukeNukem3D''. The game was banned [[MurderSimulators for that reason.]] Five other games were banned at the same time to prevent widespread violence (''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', ''Franchise/MortalKombat'', ''VideoGame/RequiemAvengingAngel'', ''VideoGame/Blood1997,'' and ''VideoGame/{{Postal}}''). (The movie being shown during the shooting, ''Film/FightClub'', was not banned.)
225* ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' was briefly banned from Brazil in 2008 because of a popular map mod called “Rio”, modeled loosely after the city of Rio de Janeiro. Authorities claimed that the map was part of the story and involved the player, with a team of drug dealers, holding UN peacekeepers hostage and shooting Brazilian military police. This ignores the fact that (a) the map is not part of the game at all, but rather an unofficial third-party created mod, which is not controlled by the game; (b) you can play as either side; and (c) the "drug dealers" are really international terrorists, and the "military police" is some generic counter-terrorist force. When the government realized this a year later (due largely to public outcry), it lifted the ban.
226* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' was banned because "the player can make morally ambiguous decisions, and thus the game is harmful to the consumer's mental health.”
227* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' has been banned because of its depictions of school violence. Amazingly, this one was actually enforced, as Platform/{{Steam}} didn't sell the game (or any package that contains it) in Brazil, until in 2016, it came back.
228* The video game of the 2003 ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' film was banned in Brazil because of copyright issues regarding the film.
229
230[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
231* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' season 13 episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E15BlameItOnLisa Blame It on Lisa]]" was only shown three times in Brazil before public outcry led the government to ban it. Several scenes mercilessly made fun of the country -- multicolored rats run through the slums, an old peddler distracts Homer while her children pick his pocket, and Bart watches a Brazilian kids' show with [[ParentService a lot of sexual innuendo and scantily-clad actresses]]. It would be years before FOX was allowed to show the episode again and include it on the season 13 DVD box set there.
232
233[[AC:Other]]
234* A regional judge ordered all telephone operators in Brazil to block [=WhatsApp=], the most popular messaging app in the country, for failing to turn over data as part of an ongoing drug trafficking investigation. The block was lifted some days after. Multiple times.
235* The same thing happened to [=Telegram=] many times due to similar issues and once due to its relation to a school massacre.
236[[/folder]]
237
238[[folder:Burma/Myanmar]]
239[[AC:{{Film}}]]
240* Burma banned ''Film/RamboIV''. Rebel factions then started watching it. Funny how these things turn out. The ban was not surprising considering that the film portrays the Burmese government as an oppressive dictatorship, which, in real life, ''it was.''
241* For starring as Aung San Suu Kyi, then the main opposition leader and a political prisoner, in a biographical movie, Malaysian-born actress Creator/MichelleYeoh was banned from entering Burma.
242* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' was banned in Burma mostly because most of the characters' skin is yellow, and yellow and red were the colors of the main political opposition party, the NLD, as well as the skin being perceived as a stereotype of Asians having bright yellow skin.
243
244[[AC:Music]]
245* Music/{{U2}}'s album ''Music/AllThatYouCantLeaveBehind'' was banned in Burma because the song "Walk On" was dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi. Anyone caught trying to import the album could face prison time.
246
247[[AC:Newspapers]]
248* In 2021, five privately run Burmese-languages newspapers were banned in the country.
249
250[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
251* As mentioned above, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has been banned in the country due to its adult content and [[DisproportionateRetribution because of the cast's yellow skin]].
252
253[[AC:Other]]
254* The military has a tight grip on the internet, to the point where online transactions via debit and credit cards have been disabled entirely, preventing purchase from any electronic marketplace.
255[[/folder]]
256
257[[folder:Cambodia]]
258[[AC:Live-Action {{Film}}]]
259* The movie ''Film/NoEscape2015'' was banned in Cambodia because the language the police officers used was an altered version of Khmer, thus potentially identifying the film's unnamed country (then undergoing a very violent coup) as Cambodia.
260* The Chinese anti-scam film "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_More_Bets No More Bets]]" was banned in Cambodia because of official concerns about how the film could've seriously damaged Cambodia's image and reputation. It is also suspected that the Khmer language appeared on the characters' T-shirts, thus potentially identifying the film's unnamed Southeast Asian city (which is a scamming compound) as Cambodian.
261* ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'' was banned in Cambodia due to the movie's portrayal of the country as the haven for bad guys, particularly with the Angkor Wat being used as the secret hideout for the BigBad.
262[[/folder]]
263
264[[folder:Chile]]
265[[AC:Film]]
266* The political drama ''Film/Missing1982'', based on the disappearance of American journalist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Horman Charles Horman]] in the aftermath of the 1973 coup d'état, was banned under the regime of UsefulNotes/AugustoPinochet for its criticism of the regime and of the violent acts that were committed during the coup.
267[[/folder]]
268
269[[folder:Cuba]]
270[[AC:General]]
271Since 1959 (the time when Fidel Castro rose to power led by the Soviet Union), Cuba is the strictest country in the Western hemisphere in terms of censorship. It is also the only country in the Western hemisphere with a communist government.
272
273[[AC:{{Film}}]]
274* One of the films remained banned in Cuba to date is ''Film/HaroldAndKumarEscapeFromGuantanamoBay'', which the Cuban censorship board refused classfication due to its negative portrayal of the country.
275
276[[AC:VideoGames]]
277* Video games were never technically banned in Cuba, but only a very few games were sold in the country until 2007 when restrictions were eased.
278
279[[/folder]]
280
281[[folder:Denmark]]
282[[AC: Video Games]]
283* For some bizarre reason, Creator/ElectronicArts completely canceled the release of ''EA Sports MMA'' in Denmark, citing alleged laws restricting ProductPlacement for energy drinks, since energy drink advertising is highly prominent throughout the game.
284[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
285* Back in 1930, the Disney cartoon ''WesternAnimation/TheSkeletonDance'' was banned for being too ''"macabre"''. This ban has since been rescinded entirely.
286[[/folder]]
287
288[[folder:Egypt]]
289[[AC:{{Film}}]]
290* ''Film/FunnyGirl'' was banned in Egypt for depicting a romance between an Egyptian actor (Creator/OmarSharif) and a Jewish actress (Music/BarbraStreisand). Streisand's political support for Israel was also a factor in the ban, and Egypt does not have good relations with the country (despite being the first Arab country to formally normalize diplomatic ties with Israel).
291* Although ''{{Film/The Ten Commandments|1956}}'' was filmed in Egypt, [[BackedByThePentagon complete with assistance from the modern Egyptian military]], it ended up being banned in that country when it finally came out. This was largely because it had the bad luck of being released during the height of the Suez Crisis, making UsefulNotes/GamalAbdelNasser opposed to releasing a film in which Israel wins over Egypt.
292* Much like the above example, ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' ended up being banned as well, albeit for different reasons. The primary grievance came from the fact that the movie depicts Rameses II as the Pharaoh of the Exodus; Rameses II is very highly regarded in modern Egypt, and Egyptian belief holds him to be a different pharaoh than the one in the Exodus.
293[[/folder]]
294
295[[folder:Finland]]
296[[AC: AnimeAndManga]]
297* During the initial run of ''Anime/Moomin1990'' on Yle, three of the 104 episodes were not aired in Finland: ''The Pirate''[[note]]due to the titular pirate threatening Snork Maiden with a knife, the Police Inspector swearing after losing his patience and the scene where Moomintroll feigns being poisoned[[/note]], ''The Imp''[[note]]due to religious concerns over the demon trapped inside the tree, as Finnish viewers would be much more familiar with the demons from Christianity rather than the demons from Japanese folklore, as well as the ending warning that the demon's tree might still be floating out there[[/note]] and ''The Birthday Surprise''[[note]]due to Little My's nightmare sequence, where she's transformed into a Stinky-like creature and the Moomin family, Snork Maiden and Sniff are laughing at her, which was seen as too scary, mean-spirited and non-Moominlike[[/note]]. These episodes gained a cult following due to their banned nature, and while they have never been broadcast on Finnish television they finally got a home video release in 2017 after the broadcasting rights switched over from Yle to Mtv who produced their own dub of the series.
298
299[[AC:{{Film}}]]
300* The Creator/{{Troma}} film ''Cry Uncle!'' was banned in Finland for a year following its release due to a scene in which the antihero has sex with a corpse.
301* During the UsefulNotes/ColdWar there was the concept of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlandization Finlandization.]] This meant that some films were banned in Finland on purely political grounds. ''Film/{{Red Dawn|1984}}'' was one of them, along with ''Literature/OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich'', the Creator/JamesCagney film ''Film/OneTwoThree'', and ''Born American'' (Renny Harlin's debut). Beyond that, Finland also had a censorship comparable to Sweden and Norway, which forbade movies featuring an excessive amount of bloodshed, brutality, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and martial arts.]]
302
303[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
304* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': The episode "Last Loud on Earth" is banned for the horror and zombie themes. However, the episode was available in Paramount+ with dubbed version.
305
306[[AC: Other]]
307* There is an urban legend about WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck [[http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/finland.asp being banned in Finland]], because he [[HalfDressedCartoonAnimal does not wear pants]]. It's not true, and it's particularly amusing because Finland is so liberal with ''actual'' nudity that it could be the least likely country in the world to enact such a ban. As Website/{{Snopes}} details, the legend derives from a complete misunderstanding of a 1977 political blunder; Helsinki councilman Markku Holopainen had proposed that the financially troubled city stop buying Donald Duck comics for youth centres, but when he ran for Parliament the next year, his opponent spun this into trying to "ban" Donald Duck (and went on to beat him in the election). Some Finns did write letters to the Donald Duck magazine on the subject decades earlier, but the magazine put it to rest by publishing a picture of a ridiculous-looking duck with pants.
308[[/folder]]
309
310[[folder:France]]
311[[AC:General]]
312* France has been known to criminalize material advancing extreme political positions. Between 1892 and 1994, it was unlawful to promote or advocate anarchy or overthrow of the government. Also in 1994, the government enacted the Gayssot Act, which criminalized material that denied UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust.
313* From 1920 to 1991, any advocacy of birth control was banned in France, even though birth control itself was allowed in 1967. This ban was lifted because of the AIDS crisis and the need to communicate about condoms.
314
315[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
316* The manga ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' was banned in France because it contains a heroic [[NoSwastikas swastika-bearing character]]. The anime saw a limited release, but [[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscleman only 49 out of the 137 original episodes were shown on television]].
317* The manga ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_(manga) Angel]]'' by U-jin, published in France starting in 1995, suffered a process of “interdiction” which prevented bookshops from displaying it on shelves.
318
319[[AC:Automobiles]]
320* Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars' Polestar subsidiary was banned from selling their cars in France due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers trademark disputes from Citröen's DS Automobiles division]] for logo design similarities. The ban was lifted after both firms have settled their dispute in 2022.
321
322[[AC:ComicBook]]
323* Since the Youth Publications Act 1949 (''Loi du 16 juillet 1949 sur les publications destinées à la jeunesse''), France has an official commitee tasked with regulating both French and foreign publications in order to protect morality of youth.
324** Two ''ComicBook/BuckDanny'' issues were banned since they took place during UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar. It caused future issues from no using real countries.
325** "The Time Trap" from ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'' has been banned.
326** "Billy the Kid" from ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'' was banned because Billy was shown sucking a gun.
327** ''ComicBook/{{Alix}}'''s "La Griffe noire" and "Les Légions perdues" were seen as references to the Algerian War.
328** Nowadays, they only restrict porn (the last bans occuring on 2011), but as late as 2004, Riad Sattouf had to alter "Ma circoncision."
329
330[[AC:Fashion]]
331* Wearing any kind of face covering in public other than motorcycle helmets is banned in France. This has caused a great deal of controversy, as the laws were written with the burqa and niqab (two different forms of face-concealing veil for women in certain forms of UsefulNotes/IslamicDress) in mind, and a small but significant minority of Muslims regard these items as being religiously-mandated. As a result, various EU institutions and many commentators -- particularly American ones -- have criticized the ban as an infringement on religious freedom.
332* For 200 years or so, women were forbidden to wear trousers in Paris due to a law implemented during UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution. Creator/MarleneDietrich, an avid wearer of trousers herself, was threatened with a ban by the mayor for wearing them. The law was gradually relaxed over the years in use for riding horses and bicycles, and enforcement stopped a long time ago, but it was only officially repealed in 2013.
333
334[[AC:{{Film}}]]
335* For three decades, no black-and-white film could be colorized in France, and no existing colorized version could be distributed there, without permission of the copyright holders.
336* ''Film/TheBattleOfAlgiers (1966)'' was banned in France until 1971 for its criticism of France's human rights violations during the Algerian War of Independence.
337* ''Baise Moi'' was the first film in three decades to be banned in France. It was eventually reclassified as X (generally a rating for porn), then 18 (which has this film to thank for its reintroduction as an official classification).
338* Due to a copyright dispute, Creator/OscarHammerstein's ''Film/CarmenJones'' wasn't released in France until 1981.
339* The film ''Film/NightAndFog'', about [[POWCamp Nazi concentration camps]], was banned from competition in the 1957 Cannes Film Festival on the demand of the West German ambassador, who feared the public might believe AllGermansAreNazis. The film also faced censorship in its native country, since some of the footage of Nazi atrocities was not actually done by Germans, but [[LesCollaborateurs French collaborators.]]
340* ''Film/BloodyMama'' was banned in France at one point due to the high amount of violence.
341
342[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
343* From 1939 to 2004, French government could ban any printed document "of foreign provenance" if it was deemed a threat to public order. Most of these were porn, but some interesting things also found themselves banned:
344** Documents from CommieLand or anti-colonial movements were sometimes banned in TheFifties and TheSixties.
345** In 1976 French government banned Jean-Paul Alata's ''Prison d'Afrique'', where he told how he and his cellmates were tortured in [[HellholePrison Boiro Camp]], using this law to protect their relations with the government of Guinea [[MoneyDearBoy to be able to invest in their Bauxite mines]]. Alata ''was'' a French national but was stripped of his citizenship in 1962; when his Guinean citizenship was also stripped in 1970 (after a KangarooCourt sentenced him to life for "treason"); although the work was written and printed in France, the French government still considered him "foreign" because he was [[TheStateless technically stateless]].
346* In occupied France during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, any book from an author whose name was on the Otto or Bernhardt lists (essentially including Jews, anti-Germans, Marxists, Brits, and Americans) was banned from any bookshops.
347
348[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
349* A 2001 documentary about mothers was banned when one of the mothers became a suspect in the death of her infant child; it remained banned during the trial to prevent it from influencing the proceedings and was lifted when they ended -- ten years later.
350
351[[AC:Music]]
352* "La Marseillaise", which is now France's NationalAnthem, was actually banned in France for much of the nineteenth century due to its association with the radicalism of UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution. It didn't become the national anthem permanently until 1879. Oddly, Vichy France used "La Marseillaise" as their national anthem.
353
354[[AC:Sports]]
355* In 2023, the football teams Atalanta and Young Boys were banned from French television due to their sponsorships by [=Plus500=], as French advertising regulations prohibit the promotion of investment products considered "risky" by financial authorities.
356
357[[AC:StandUpComedy]]
358* A spectacle from controversial comedian Dieudonné M'Bala M'Bala was banned after the state convinced the [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts Administrative Court]] that it would promote antisemitic behavior.
359
360[[/folder]]
361
362[[folder:Greece]]
363
364Much of what's listed here was the work of a fascist military dictatorship in power in Greece between 1967 and 1974; it banned everything it deemed left-wing or a sign of modern decadence. This included labor unions, the peace symbol, rock music, "new math", miniskirts, and long hair on men. The craziest thing they banned was the letter "Z", which was used as a symbol of murdered resistance leader Grigoris Lambrakis (''zi'' meaning "he lives").
365
366[[AC:{{Film}}s--Live Action]]
367* Creator/CostaGavras' film ''Film/{{Z}}'', a political thriller based on the assassination of an outspokenly pacifist, left-wing politician, was predictably banned under the military dictatorship.
368
369[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
370* Between 1967 and 1974, the Greek military dictatorship banned the works of Creator/JeanPaulSartre, Creator/AntonChekhov, Creator/MarkTwain, Creator/EugeneIonesco, Creator/LeoTolstoy, Creator/HaroldPinter, Creator/SamuelBeckett, and even classic playwrights like Creator/{{Sophocles}} and Creator/{{Aeschylus}}. Writing about Creator/{{Socrates}}' homosexuality was also forbidden for a while.
371* Creator/{{Aristophanes}}' play ''Theatre/{{Lysistrata}}'' holds the dubious distinction of being banned twice, in 1942 by the Nazi occupators and again from 1967 to 1974 by the Greek military dictatorship. The reason for this is evident: the story is about a woman ending the Peloponnesian War by organizing a protest movement. That fact that said protest was a sex strike probably didn't help.
372
373[[AC:Music]]
374* The music of composer Mikis Theodorakis (best known for ''Film/ZorbaTheGreek'') was banned due to his opposition to the regime. Theodorakis was also arrested and sent to prison for a few months.
375
376[[AC:VideoGames]]
377* On 29 July 2002, Greece passed a law ostensibly meant to ban gambling machines in public places. There were 2 problems, however; firstly, the law's definition was written so broadly that it applied to ''any'' electronic game. Plus, after concerns that establishments would just hide their slot machines in a secret room to get around the ban, it was made to apply in private places as well (although the government said they would only only enforce the public ban). The law was partially repealed after complaints, although games are still banned from internet cafes.
378[[/folder]]
379
380[[folder:Hungary]]
381[[AC:General]]
382* The Hungarian communist regime (at least post-1956) was much less ban-happy than other communist regimes in the area. They realized that by looking the other way regarding ''mildly'' subversive material they can provide a safe release valve to both the artists and the populace. (They still banned anything directly calling for the end of the regime.) Hungary had a significant HardRock scene during the communist era with even HeavyMetal and PunkRock starting up in the late '70s and the '80s.
383
384[[AC:{{Film}}]]
385* ''Film/Frankenstein1931'' was submitted for release and banned at least four separate times during the 1930s for its horroristic content, alongside a variety of other American horror pictures. By the late 30s and early 40s however, regional film theaters were allowed to screen them as limited showings, and most of the classic Franchise/UniversalHorror films were finally granted a nationwide DVD release in 2004.
386
387[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
388* ''Literature/TheRedLion'' by Maria Szepes was banned for forty years after being considered "nonconformist" by the Hungarian communist regime at the time.
389
390[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
391* Although ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' was supposed to (and for unknown reasons failed to) premiere on Disney Channel in Hungary (and also the Czech Republic and Slovakia which share the same feed) '''prior''' to the instatement of the Hungarian LGBT propaganda law, it was subsequently indirectly banned by July 2021 as consequence of said LGBT propaganda law. The Hungarian dub (alongside the Czech dub) was fully produced, but it was not until 2022 that both dubs surfaced and became publicly available, exclusively on Creator/DisneyPlus.
392[[/folder]]
393
394[[folder:India]]
395[[AC:{{Film}}]]
396* Contrary to popular belief, the lesbian romance ''Fire'' was never actually banned; instead, it was withdrawn from theaters for a short period for re-examination by the censor board. The main backlash came from fundamentalist religious groups who claimed it to be "culturally offensive". Some even went so far as to attack the theaters that were screening the movie; showings were canceled because of this. However, the next time there was an attack, the audience who'd come to see the film, along with the theater ushers, beat up the attackers and chased them off. Business then continued as usual. After the subsequent withdrawal and re-examination by the censor board, it was re-released with no additional cuts with a normal "Adult" (R) rating, and it went on to become a decent financial success with no further incidents.
397* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' was banned on account of its general subject matter. The film was inspired by Film/GungaDin and other Kipling MightyWhitey stories that had become discredited within UsefulNotes/{{India}}. Creator/StevenSpielberg even tried to shoot it in India, but he couldn't get permission for this reason; he shot most of it in Sri Lanka.
398* ''Film/BlueJasmine'' by Creator/WoodyAllen is banned because of several scenes where people smoke. In India, every time a character smokes, it must either be digitally removed or be accompanied with a scrolling text [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSA]] explaining that smoking is bad. Allen refused to have his film altered in this way and chose simply not to release it in India.
399* The Indian film certification board tends to be extremely prudish in general, and almost all instances of sex, nudity, swearing and/or anything else that might be construed as being offensive to family values or religious sensibilities tend to get censored out of theatrical releases and/or televised broadcasts. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar and other similar streaming services are not usually censored,which has led an increasing number of right-wing and/or [[MoralGuardians moral guardian]] groups to demand expansion of censorship to online media as well.
400
401[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
402* The BBC documentary ''India: The Modi Question'', which examines Prime Minister Narendra Modi's acrinomous relationship with the country's Muslim minority population, was banned by the government on the grounds of "lacking objectivity", with the authorities ordering platforms such as [=YouTube=] and Twitter to remove it. This ended up [[StreisandEffect attracting worldwide attention to the film]], and caused activsts and opposition leaders to share it out of spite.
403* An episode of ''Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver'' critical of Modi was not aired by streaming service Disney+ Hotstar, which streams the show in India. Oliver would later criticize Hotstar's practices in a segment on a later episode, although noting he was more resentful for Disney's censorship of his "factually accurate" joke from a prior episode about Donald Duck having a corkscrew penis.
404* The ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' episode ''The Way'' is banned in the country for its depiction of Hindi deites which is frowned upon with the faithful in general.
405
406[[AC:Music]]
407* Music/{{Slayer}}'s ''Christ Illusion'' is unofficially banned in India, after the Indian branch of EMI recalled and destroyed all physical copies of the album after the Catholic Secular Forum sent a complaint to the Mumbai Police Commissioner that the songs "Skeleton Christ" and "Jihad" were offensive to Christians and Muslims respectively.
408
409[[AC:Technology]]
410* Back in the early 2000s, India threatened to ban the Platform/MicrosoftWindows operating system because their time zone selection map [[http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/08/22/54679.aspx showed]] [[DisproportionateRetribution the India/Pakistan border according to the U.N. maps instead of their own maps]].
411* In response to the skirmish between Indian and Chinese troops that occurred in June 2020 and out of security concerns, the Indian government has banned 59 Chinese mobile apps, including Platform/{{TikTok}}, [=WeChat=], Clash of Kings and Mobile Legends.
412
413[[AC:VideoGames]]
414* Like with ''Fallout 3'', ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is banned not due to world-ending nuclear war and the close-up dismemberments of your enemies, but for featuring mutant cattle called 'brahmin.'
415
416[[AC:WebOriginal]]
417* As of May 2012, courts ordered various [=ISPs=] to block Platform/{{Vimeo}} along with [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil The Pirate Bay and the late Kickasstorrents]].
418* A laundry list of porn sites were blocked in 2015, but due to public outcry concerning the flimsy evidence as to why (basically boiling to "porn is bad m'kay?"), it only lasted for a couple of days.
419
420[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
421* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'' and ''WesternAnimation/BackAtTheBarnyard'' are both banned in the country due to their depiction of cows, which are seen as sacred creatures in Hindu religion.
422[[/folder]]
423
424[[folder:Indonesia]]
425[[AC:General]]
426* The Indonesian government outright bans depiction of communist imagery as back in 1965, the biggest communist political party of Indonesia staged a bloody treason against the moderate arm of the military (which seeks to stop further conflict against neighboring countries after the Dutch departed fully from Indonesia) at the time, after sowing discord and witch-hunts against the more religious political parties (which follows the moderates) and aiming to support further military operation against Western-controlled neighboring powers (which was dropped following the transfer-of-power after the 1965 conflict). After 1998 it somewhat loosened, but from 2014 onwards the ban was back in full-force after an increase of underground movements and activists promoting socialism and communism in a positive light.
427* Ever since a law criminalizing pornography was passed in 2008, pornography in public, along with public indecency, has been banned under threat of imprisonment for offenders.
428* Mockery of religion, which constitutes as blasphemy, is also banned under threat of imprisonment as well. In 2017, a mayor running for his second term was jailed for a year following his failed reelection due to "blasphemous acts" supposedly for disparaging a religion in his political rally speech.
429* A new policy, which took effect on July 30, 2022, requires publishers and website owners to register websites that provide e-mail, social media, search engine, and paid products and services. Several websites, including videogame platforms (such as Yahoo Search Engine, Steam, Paypal, Epic Store, and Origin), were inaccessible for around four to twelve days between that day and August 11 due to those sites being late to register, owing to poor communication of the policy.
430
431[[AC:{{Film}}]]
432* The Australian film ''Film/{{Balibo}}'', which depicts Australian journalists getting killed by Indonesian soldiers during the latter's 1975 invasion of East Timor, is banned in Indonesia. The Indonesian government's version of the story stated that they died in crossfire. A local journalists' association conducted a screening, attended by about 500 people.
433* The Indonesian-Japanese film ''Film/{{Merdeka 17805}}'' was banned for depicting the Japanese as being superior and for its apparently disrespectful usage of Indonesia Raya.
434* Peter Weir's 1982 Australian film ''Film/TheYearOfLivingDangerously'', which was set in Jakarta (Indonesia's capitol) and dramatized the fall of President Sukarno, the rise of President Suharto, and the Communist coup which set it all in motion in 1965, was not shown in Indonesia until 1999, after Suharto had been forced to resign.
435
436[[AC:ProfessionalWrestling]]
437* In 2006, after numerous cases of injuries and a few deaths caused by children imitating the moves on Wrestling/{{WWE}}, both Smackdown and RAW was banned from public access television, including all the merchandises and licensed games. It was around 4 years later informally unbanned, but at that point, no public access television have interest on it anymore.
438
439[[AC:VideoGames]]
440* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' was banned, although not publicly, for over-the-top gory violence and communist references. Most likely the latter, as the previous ''Mortal Kombat'' games and the mobile game isn't banned.
441
442[[AC:WebOriginal]]
443* Due to the conservative nature of Indonesia's government, especially since the TurnOfTheMillennium and TheNewTens, sites carrying potentially NSFW (mostly nudity and porn) content is banned. Examples include:
444** Vimeo (which unfortunately includes the videos on some TV Tropes pages)
445** Danbooru
446** Imgur, which was unbanned in 2015 after Imgur banned NSFW content.
447** Tumblr was banned in early 2018... and later unbanned in late 2018 after Tumblr also banned NSFW content.
448** Platform/FanFictionDotNet, also because it seems "abusive". As of 2021, this ban has been lifted.
449* Platform/{{Newgrounds}} was banned in 2010 and has stayed that way since due to the total freedom and lack of filtering of offensive and NSFW content.
450* Website/TwitterX was also [[https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musks-twitter-rebrand-as-x-gets-site-blocked-under-indonesia-porn-laws temporarily banned]] (for less than a day) after Elon Musk's rebranding of the platform, because of the association of the symbol "X" with pornography.
451* Creator/{{Netflix}}, initially, was banned on Telkom, the largest and nationally-owned [=ISP=] for allegedly carrying family-unfriendly shows, differing censorship standards, and shows that promote an "unhealthy lifestyle," such as LGBT or pedophilia. The ban was lifted on July 7, 2020, [[https://coconuts.co/jakarta/news/netflix-unblocked-on-telkomsel-indihome-for-real-this-time/ as confirmed by the CEO.]]
452* Website/{{Reddit}} has been banned since 2016, citing several NSFW, misinformative, and malicious content there. The government promises to unblock Reddit if they register to the new policy detailed in "General" above.
453* Zach Weinersmith's ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' has been banned in Indonesia [[https://twitter.com/ZachWeiner/status/685224224793886720 since at least 2016]], for unknown reasons.
454* The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjU8R8oj328 Visit West Papua!]]" [[WebVideo/HonestGovernmentAds Honest Government Ad]] is blocked in Indonesia owing to its criticism of human rights and the Indonesian government handling of separatism in the territory as well as other nations (particularly Australia) supporting Indonesia on the matter, with the video even acknowledging this in the title itself.
455[[/folder]]
456
457[[folder:Iran]]
458Any form of media seeking distribution in Iran needs the permission of the Ministry of Islamic Culture, which sets an arbitrary array of rules subject to change at any time by the government. These rules include any form of pornography or sexual imagery (particularly centered on the display of the female form, which is taboo in Islam), political material disagreeing with the government's goals, and any form of communication criticizing Islam. These restrictions are often circumvented by physical and internet piracy, use of satellite dishes, and illegal used book markets.
459
460[[AC:General]]
461* Anything created by members of the Baha'i Faith is banned in Iran. One newspaper was suspended in 2009 because it had an Indian tourism advertisement featuring a photo of a Baha'i temple. Unfortunately for the newspaper, one of the most prominent symbols of modern Delhi, and the photo in said ad, is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Temple a great big Baha'i temple]].
462* Following the 1979 Revolution, popular music was banned for almost two decades due to supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini viewing it as equivalent to opium. This ban became the basis for Music/FrankZappa's RockOpera ''Music/JoesGarage'', about a dystopian society where music as a whole is forbidden. The ban was eventually lifted in the late '90s under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (ironically not too long after Khomeini's successor, Ali Khamenei, issued a fatwa condemning music education).
463
464[[AC:{{Film}}]]
465* The film ''Film/ThreeHundred'', where the Persians are portrayed as slavering, inhuman monsters, if by an UnreliableNarrator, was unsurprisingly banned in Iran.
466* The LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek ''Not Without My Daughter'', was banned in Iran for depicting the escape of American citizen Betty Mahmoody and her daughter from their abusive Iranian ex-husband.
467* ''Film/{{Offside}}'', made by an Iranian director, with Iranian actors, and filmed in Iran, was banned for criticizing the Iranian government's policy of banning women from attending sporting events.
468* ''Film/TheWrestler'' was considered Western propaganda, likely because of The Ram's in-ring nemesis being named the Ayatollah.
469* ''Film/{{Argo}}'', a film about the rescue of six hostages during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, is not surprisingly banned, but bootleg copies are selling very well. Parodied on the season 38 finale of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (played by Fred Armisen) creates his own version of ''Argo'' called ''Bengo F**k Yourself'' (a TakeThat to Creator/BenAffleck).
470
471[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
472* Creator/SalmanRushdie's ''Literature/TheSatanicVerses'' was subject of a famous ban in modern times when Ayatollah Khomeini considered the book blasphemous and placed a fatwa on Rushdie's life. Unsurprisingly, the book and Rushdie's other works are banned there, though in 1998 the fatwa was officially lifted by the Iranian government.
473
474[[AC:VideoGames]]
475* ''VideoGame/Battlefield3'' and ''VideoGame/{{ARMA}} 3'' are banned in Iran for portraying Iran as one of the primary antagonists.
476* ''VideoGame/ClashOfClans'' is currently banned in Iran, citing the reason as "promoting violence and tribal conflict".
477[[/folder]]
478
479[[folder:Iraq]]
480[[AC:{{Film}}]]
481* ''Film/AmericanSniper'' is banned for its portrayal of Iraqis as violent terrorists.
482* ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'' was banned under the Ba'athist regime for its mocking depiction of UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein as the homosexual lover of Satan. Co-creator [[Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone Matt Stone]] joked that after he was captured by American forces, they used the film to [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment torture him]].
483[[/folder]]
484
485[[folder:Ireland]]
486
487Many of the works listed here were banned up from after the 1916 Easter Rising due to the heavy influence of the Catholic Church in Ireland. Things such as teachings that didn't abide by Catholic Church ruling, feminism, sexual content, divorce, homosexuality, wedlock, and the like were among prohibited. However, eventually the Catholic Church's influence in the government started to lower down by the 1960s, and so did the MoralGuardians.
488
489[[AC:{{Film}}]]
490* ''Film/{{Casablanca}}'' was banned due to its portrayal of the Nazis infringing on an act preserving wartime neutrality. A cut version removing dialogue about Rick and Ilsa's love affair was eventually passed, before the movie was released uncut.
491* Back in 1931 the Irish government banned Creator/TheMarxBrothers film ''Film/MonkeyBusiness'' thinking it might encourage "anarchic tendencies". The ban was only lifted in 2000.
492* Until 2006 or so it was virtually impossible to even ''film'' a horror or witchcraft movie in Ireland due to laws against practicing witchcraft or the supernatural.
493* ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'' was banned from 1983 until 1990.
494* ''Film/NaturalBornKillers'' was banned on initial release, but it has since been lifted.
495* ''Film/{{Porkys}}'' was banned for roughly two weeks after initial release.
496* ''Baise-moi'' was banned on its initial release.
497* The 2010 re-release of ''Film/ISpitOnYourGrave'' was banned.
498* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' was banned but then recut on initial release to remove the Rite of Spring part, which a censor believed "gave an entirely materialistic view on the origin of life" (most likely because said scene focuses on the Big Bang, something that would have been at odds with traditional Catholic beliefs[[note]]Which is ironic given that the Big Bang theory was first proposed by a Catholic priest[[/note]]). It has since been released entirely uncut.
499* ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'' was banned in Ireland at some point, likely due to just how over-the-top the movie is with gore and adult themes.
500
501[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
502* The 1926 Committee on Evil Literature forbade the likes of ''News of the World'', ''The People'', ''Sunday Chronicle'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Vogue'', ''Woman's Weekly'', ''Woman's World'', and ''Illustrated Police News''. The tabloids were banned mostly for lurid descriptions of violence and sex; the women's magazines were banned mostly for discussing women's issues that are in conflict with what Irish women were brought up to believe (including an ad for depilatory cream). While most of these were lifted the following year, ''News of the World'' had remained banned until its shutdown in 2011.
503* With the exception of college magazines, books regarding the topic of abortion were banned or edited out until the 2018 referendum repealed the anti-abortion Eight Amendmant.
504* ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'' was banned in 1951. The ban has since been lifted, and the book has become required reading in many schools.
505* A large amount of now world-famous Irish literature was banned for a time in Ireland, including writers like Liam O'Flaherty, Seán Ó Faoláin, Edna O'Brien, Oliver St John Gogarty, or the egregiously cruel treatment of storyteller Timothy Buckley and his wife Anastasia, whose stories of married life in ''The Tailor And Ansty'' were considered obscene, and ''an actual BookBurning'' took place outside their house. Contrary to popular belief, Creator/JamesJoyce's ''Literature/{{Ulysses}}'' was never banned in Ireland - in fact, it was never printed or imported in the country in the first place, because they were certain it ''would'' be banned if it was.
506* ''The Raped Little Runaway'' by Jean Martin was banned in 2016 for its depictions of child rape. Under Irish law, a book can only be initially banned for twelve years. Board members must read the submissions and then decide by majority on whether to censor a text. The process of book-banning being almost totally extinct in Ireland now, the book was the first banned in nearly twenty years and the decision made national news.
507
508[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
509* Starting in the 1970s, the Irish government instituted a broadcasting ban on the IRA. In 1988, they added a similar ban which applied to all terrorist organizations in the UK. Both were lifted in 1994, but during this period, any material mentioning UsefulNotes/TheTroubles was not broadcast. For example, the aforementioned ''TNG'' episode.
510
511[[AC:Music]]
512* In the 1930s or so, there was actually an entire ban on ''jazz music'', with all the criticisms of the "debauchery" of the genre at the time. However, the ban itself was very loose - the broadcasters deemed what was jazz, which made the ban pointless. The plan folded only a few years later.
513* The album "''Ordinary Man''" by Christy Moore had a song removed because the lyrics of ''They Never Came Home'' blamed blocked-off emergency doors as a cause of the deaths in the Stardust nightclub fire. (At the time, the official cause was arson and so the song was considered libellous - it was only in later a proper investigation found that it really was reckless mismanagement by the club owner.)
514
515[[AC:VideoGames]]
516* Ten years later, ''VideoGame/OmegaLabyrinthZ'' was refused a rating due to its sexualized content involving girls who appear to be underage.
517
518[[AC:Websites]]
519* During the period of the 2018 referendum to repeal the Eight Amendment (which prohibited abortions within Ireland), both Facebook and Google banned all advertisements from both sides, after it was revealed that the anti-repeal movement had used foreign advertisers to increase their publicity.
520* The Pirate Bay was blocked on most internet services after 2009.
521* In March 2017, the AI app [=SimSimi=] was banned in both the Republic and Northern Ireland after numerous reports of cyber-bullying cases regarding the program. While the app can still be purchased from stores, attempting to send a message will prompt a brief message regarding the ban and a quote against bullying.
522* The Irish government has prohibited Uber from doing private fares, under fear that it would cause an effect on Ireland's taxi industry and its Hail-O service.
523
524[[AC:Other]]
525* Many schools in Gaeltacht regions (regions with a predominately Irish-speaking population) put bans or rules against speaking English. This is very common in summer-course Irish colleges, where even speaking a single sentence warrants ''being kicked out of the course period''. A particularly egregious case was when a creche (kindergarten) in Connemara divided bilingual children from non-bilingual children, despite already being an Irish-speaking creche.
526* At one point there were churches that separated male and female churchgoers. They eventually became very obscure, and to nobody's surprise, the last church that did separation of gender discontinued it in 2017.
527[[/folder]]
528
529[[folder:Israel]]
530[[AC:{{Film}}]]
531* ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' was temporarily banned because Gert Fröbe, the man who played the eponymous character, had been a member of the Nazi party from 1929 to 1937. The ban was lifted after it was discovered that he had actually helped two Jews hide from the Gestapo during the war.
532
533[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
534* "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_fiction Stalag fiction]]", a genre of pornographic {{Dime Novel}}s set in Nazi concentration camps, was banned by the government following the trial of Adolf Eichmann, after becoming bizarrely popular there during TheFifties.
535
536[[AC:Music]]
537* There is an informal ban on performing Music/RichardWagner's music in Israel, owing to [[MusicToInvadePolandTo the assumed connections between the music of Wagner and the philosophy of the Nazis]] (and the fact that Wagner himself was a rabid anti-Semite). A performance of a piece from ''Tristan und Isolde'' in 2001 was met with widespread condemnation from the media. However, radio airplay of his music doesn't elicit the same response.
538
539[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
540* The 1976 British stop-motion series ''WesternAnimation/ChorltonAndTheWheelies'' was banned because of Claptrap Von Spilldebeans, the talking spellbook of Fenella the Kettle Witch. He ''should'' have been depicted with a five-pointed Pentagram on his cover, but instead, he was given the ''six''-pointed Star of David (either the modelmaker responsible was unaware of the connotations, or he simply thought a six-pointed star would be easier to draw). This wouldn't have been so much of a problem, but the spellbook also happened to speak with a German accent. Needless to say, the studio was soon met with accusations of anti-semitism from the Israeli Embassy in London, who stopped the series being sold to Israel.
541* While it was never officially banned, ''WesternAnimation/TheFlightOfDragons'' used to be broadcast every summer on the Educational Channel (a government-funded PBS equivalent) until one lady called to complain - ''while it was on the air'' - that one of the characters, the good wizard Carolianus, is an antisemitic stereotype, due to his large nose and the stars (resembling Stars of David) on his robe. Never mind that he was the good guy, or that his robe also featured moons which are, if anything, a Muslim symbol. The broadcast was cut short and the film was never shown on Israeli TV again.
542[[/folder]]
543
544[[folder:Italy]]
545[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
546* Amanda Knox's family managed to get ''Film/AmandaKnoxMurderOnTrialInItaly'' banned in Italy on the belief that it had the potential to taint Knox's appeals. It certainly might have helped Knox get back home to Seattle several months after the trial. The movie managed to be aired in Italy in December 2012.
547
548[[AC:{{Film}}]]
549In 2021, Italy ended its film censorship bureau, unbanning all formerly banned films, and leaving it up to theaters to decide what to screen.
550* ''Film/LionOfTheDesert'', a Libyan (or rather Gaddafi)-funded film about LaResistance to Italian colonial rule, had been banned in Italy since 1987.
551* ''Film/TheDevils'' didn't have a chance in Italy with its blasphemous content and was banned.
552
553[[AC:Music]]
554* Back in 1989, Music/{{Madonna}}'s music video for the song [[Music/LikeAPrayer "Like A Prayer"]] was unofficially (as in, by the Pope, not by any legal action of the Italian government) banned for symbolism that would be considered blasphemous to the Catholic church (Jesus coming to life as a handsome black man and crosses being set on fire).
555
556[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
557* Focus groups already found ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' controversial, so it was no surprise when the episodes [[Recap/SouthParkS4E5CartmanJoinsNAMBLA "Cartman Joins NAMBLA"]], "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?", and "Probably" wound up banned. "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" was pulled for references to homosexual pedophilia and infanticide, while the "Do The Handicapped Go to Hell?"-"Probably" two-parter was pulled for mocking and asking too many questions about the Catholic faith. Years later, the season 23 episode "Christmas Snow" was banned for depicting Jesus smoking weed.
558[[/folder]]
559
560[[folder:Japan]]
561[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
562* The ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' episode "Electric Soldier Porygon" was infamous for its seizure-inducing strobe effects, which affected hundreds of viewers, most of them children. The whole series was put on hiatus in Japan for four months, and the government required flashing effects like that to be toned down. The episode itself was banned in Japan and most other countries as well.
563* The manga ''Manga/BarefootGen'' has never been banned in Japan at the national level (and never banned from private sales), but it has been banned from libraries at the local level on multiple occasions:
564** In 2012, a right wing group complained to the Matsue city assembly to ban the manga from school libraries because it contained "unsupported" depictions of Japanese atrocities. The city assembly refused to act, but the local school board subsequently moved all copies in local elementary and middle schools to closed shelves, effectively stopping students from reading the work at school. When this action became widely known nationally in 2013, there was a large public outcry. In the ensuing controversy, Japan's education minister commented that he found the ban to be appropriate, though he took no actions himself. In the end, the school board reconvened and unanimously decided to lift the ban, though it is left to individual schools to decide how they wanted to treat the books.
565** In 2011, the legal guardian of a child complained to the central library of the city of Tottori that it was inappropriate to have a manga "with rape and other sexual depictions in a place where children can reach it." The library removed the work from its shelves and decided to provide it only to those who specifically asked for it. After the scandal in Matsue mentioned above, the library moved the manga back to the shelves.
566* ''Manga/MrArashisAmazingFreakShow'' was banned for depicting graphic violence on animals, which was illegal in Japan. It's a miracle it was even made, as no one wanted to sponsor it, and it took the author five years and his entire life's savings to finish it. It did see a limited print run in Japan after the law was overturned.
567
568[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
569* ''Literature/LadyChatterleysLover'' was determined by the Supreme Court to be legally "obscene" in 1957, the case having originated in 1951. The Japanese translator and the publisher were both subjected to fines, and unexpurgated versions of the text could not be legally sold under Paragraph 175 of the Japanese Penal Code,[[note]]Not to be confused with the infamous Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code, which banned homosexuality in that country. The coincidence of the number of two different paragraphs both dealing with crimes of a sexual nature is, in fact, due to the Japanese code having been based, in part, on the German code, but homosexuality has never been illegal under either of Japan's constitutions (though it was very briefly banned for a few years immediately after the opening of Japan to the West, before the passage of the Meiji Constitution).[[/note]] which bans the sale, publication, and exhibition (but not the possession) of obscene works. The Chatterley trial, indeed, originated the criteria Japanese courts use to judge whether or not a work is obscene. Versions of the novel sold in Japan from the 1950s through the 1990s had the offending parts replaced with asterisks. From the 1990s onward, uncensored versions of the novel began to be sold. Interestingly, on paper the relevant legislation has not changed, and there has not been a legal case that has officially overturned the 1957 ruling. Rather, prosecutors and the government have taken no action against publishers, resulting in a ''de facto'' but somewhat confusing change in Japan's obscenity laws.
570* ''Literature/TheBellsOfNagasaki'', a non-fiction account of the atomic bombing of that city by a survivor, was initially refused publication under the censorship regime during the American occupation. It was eventually allowed to be published with an accurate but off-topic appendix about atrocities perpetrated by the Japanese tacked onto the end, presumably for "balance". Versions published after the end of the occupation, as well as English translations, generally omit the appendix.
571* In 1999, Japan's customs authority banned the importation of a book of photographs by Creator/RobertMapplethorpe, despite it having previously been published in the country without incident. In 2008, the Supreme Court overturned the ban.
572* Historian Saburo Ienaga holds the distinction of being the complainant in the longest civil trial in any country on record. In 1965, he sued the Japanese education ministry over [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory its refusal to approve his history book, which did not shy away from depicting war-time atrocities by the Japanese]]. Ienaga and his lawyers argued that the refusal to approve the book constituted censorship, though there was never any ban on the sale of the book, just on its use as an official textbook in schools. In 1997, the Supreme Court finally ruled that although no censorship had taken place, the ministry had nonetheless abused its discretion in not approving the book.
573* ''Little Black Sambo'' was banned between 1988 and 2005 due to an anti-racism campaign in the US that threatened to boycott Japanese goods until it was pulled from shelves.
574
575[[AC:Live Action TV]]
576* The ''Series/ImInTheBand'' episode "Happy Fun Rock Metal Time" was banned for similar reasons as the ''Simpsons'' episode mentioned below, as like that episode, this one also features a wacky game show and also pokes fun at Japanese subcultures.
577
578[[AC:VideoGames]]
579* Console games and their providers in Japan are regulated by an industry body called the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), similar to the ESRB in the US, Canada and (formerly) Mexico. They have been known to refuse classification or require extensive editing for some games that might not be similarly restricted in other countries. A refusal of classification makes it ''de facto'' impossible to sell official Japanese versions of the game. However, unless it would be legally considered obscene (which only explicit depictions of genitalia would be), the Japanese can get most of these games online (albeit in English for console games, while Steam isn't covered by CERO due to how CERO doesn't regulate PC games, even on Japan's own DL Site).
580* None of the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' games since ''Mortal Kombat Trilogy'' on the original [=PlayStation=] have been localized for the Japanese market due to excessive gore and violence.
581
582[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
583* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
584** The episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E23ThirtyMinutesOverTokyo Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo]]"[[note]]season ten finale where The Simpsons go to Japan after living frugally to make up for Snake Jailbird stealing money from their online bank account[[/note]] was never broadcasted on Japanese TV, was never dubbed into Japanese, and is unavailable on the Japanese version of ''The Simpsons'' season 10 DVD release to avoid offending Japanese audiences. It depicts Homer tossing Emperor Akihito into a bin of sumo thongs (in Japan, the emperor is only allowed to be seen in children's books and in the news), the family having an epileptic fit after seeing an anime (a reference to "Electric Soldier Porygon" above), the family going on a sadistic game show, and the implication that the Franchise/HelloKitty factory uses live cats in their products. The episode in question isn't even available on Creator/DisneyPlus in Japan either, and even in the countries where it is available, [[NoDubForYou it does not have a Japanese dub]] ''let alone Japanese subtitles!''
585** The episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E10LittleBigMom Little Big Mom]]" (the season 11 episode where Lisa is left to care for Homer and Bart after Marge breaks her leg) is also banned in Japan as a part of the plot involves Lisa tricking Homer and Bart into thinking they have leprosy. Japan has a very controversial history involving discrimination against lepers and to have an episode like that air would be considered offensive (though not as much as "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo"). There's also the fact that it depicts Lisa, who is [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff beloved in Japan]] due to her character being more in-line with Japanese ideals than, say, Bart or Homer, committing deception against her father, and such disrespect is taken ''very'' seriously in Japanese households. Much like the aforementioned "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo", the episode is also absent from Disney+ in Japan, and does not have Japanese dubbing or even Japanese subtitles on on Disney+ either outside of Japan.
586* Most WesternAnimation that features human characters with FourFingeredHands often have trouble making it past Japanese censors due to the social stigma surrounding those with missing fingers, such as Yakuza members. A major exception to this is Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, as Disney holds its own strict "no-editing" policy for foreign distribution similar to Studio Ghibli.
587
588[[AC:Other]]
589* Thanks to stringent emissions laws, non-domestic pickup trucks and other large-bodied vehicles are practically nonexistent in Japan. While the laws don't necessarily "ban" imported trucks outright, the tight regulations have caused many American companies whom are primarily known for their large pickup trucks and V8 muscle cars, such as Ford and Chevrolet, to withdraw completely from the country. That being said, prospective Japanese owners of large American cars ''can'' obtain permits to own such vehicles, albeit by going through a lengthy and expensive process which makes it impractical for the common motorist outside of collection and hobby use.
590[[/folder]]
591
592[[folder:Kenya]]
593
594Sub-Saharan Africa is served by region-wide pay satellite channels, therefore Kenya has veto power over what the area can watch that isn't on the over-the-air broadcasters of the individual countries.
595
596[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
597* ''Series/AndiMack'' was banned by the Kenyan government in 2017 for showing homosexuality.
598
599[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
600* [[http://www.channel24.co.za/TV/News/kenyas-uninformed-ban-on-tv-shows-with-gay-characters-is-extremely-dangerous-20170622 In 2017]], Kenya's censorship board banned ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}'', ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', and ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' for adult-oriented humour (''Gravity Falls''), supposed suggestive content (''Hey Arnold!''), and depictions (implied and otherwise) of homosexual couples (the remaining six).
601
602[[AC:Other]]
603* Following the death of Sudan, the last male northern white rhino, Kenya officially abolished the ivory trade and declared the mere ''possession'' of ivory illegal under penalty of life imprisonment.
604[[/folder]]
605
606[[folder:Kuwait]]
607[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
608* The ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' -- ''To the Swordsmith Village'' movie was banned due to a nude scene where Mitsuri takes a shower in a hot spring.
609[[AC:Film]]
610* The Australian film ''Film/TalkToMe'' was banned, [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/talk-to-me-banned-kuwait-1235551041/#! not for its plot (teenagers playing at demonic possession)]], but over cast member Zoe Terakes, who is non-binary and transmasculine. Their character's gender identity is not mentioned in the film.
611[[AC:VideoGames]]
612* ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' [[https://mobile.twitter.com/yanderedevooc/status/1284302619234582530 is banned]].
613[[/folder]]
614
615[[folder:Lebanon]]
616[[AC:Music]]
617* Music/LadyGaga's album ''Born This Way'' is banned in Lebanon because, officials say, it is "offensive to Christianity" (mostly due to "Judas").
618[[/folder]]
619
620[[folder:Mexico]]
621[[AC:{{Film}}]]
622* As a rule of thumb, any film depicting the American military killing Mexicans in any context, while not always banned, is normally edited out in dubbed versions where possible, for [[UsefulNotes/MexicanAmericanWar obvious reasons]]. Oddly enough, subbed versions avert this for some bizarre reason.
623* All films starring Music/ElvisPresley were banned in Mexico between 1960 and 1971 after riots broke out at Las Americas in Mexico City during screenings of ''Film/KingCreole'' and ''Film/GIBlues''.
624
625[[AC:Franchises]]
626* In 2005, the ''Franchise/GarbagePailKids'' franchise was banned in the country and imports or exports of it were outlawed in their General Import and Export Tax Law that states: "any type of stickers printed in color or in white and black, presented for sale in envelopes or packages, even when they include chewing gum, candy or any other type of articles, containing drawings, figures or illustrations that represent children in a degrading or ridiculous manner, in attitudes of incitement to violence, self-destruction or any other form of antisocial behavior, known as Garbage Pail Kids, for example, printed by any company or business name."
627
628[[AC:VideoGames]]
629* Several right-wing groups have tried to ban ''Tom Clancy's VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter2'' in some parts of Mexico because the bad guys depicted are Mexican [[spoiler:even though they are rebels against the Mexican government and the players end up teaming up with Mexican loyalists]].
630[[/folder]]
631
632[[folder:The Netherlands]]
633[[AC:{{Film}}]]
634* The Creator/LaurelAndHardy film ''Scram'' (1932) was banned back in 1932, as moral crusaders thought the scene of Laurel and Hardy lying on a bed with a woman (even though it was, at worst, ''mildly'' risqué) was indecent. The ban has since then been lifted.
635
636[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
637* Aside from SMS contests, phone-in game shows have been banned since November 2007 for being unlawful gambling games.
638
639[[AC:VideoGames]]
640* Not ''officially'' banned, but support for ''VideoGame/PokemonDuel'' was dropped in the Netherlands after the Dutch Kansspelautoriteit (loosely translated to chance-game authority) allegedly looked into the game for its lootbox mechanic. (Same law as the phone-in game shows under live-action TV.)
641* ''VideoGame/PokemonMasters'' is unavailable to download in the Netherlands due to featuring LootBox mechanics. The game does divulge the probability chances of unlocking certain characters and allows the user to place a hard cap on how much premium currency can be purchased in a specific time-frame, but none of that matters.
642[[/folder]]
643
644[[folder:New Zealand]]
645
646Note: Following the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand is amping up its censorship laws by making possession of extremist material illegal. Therefore anyone possessing the extremist material (or in this case possession of objectionable material) could be [[http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0094/latest/DLM314171.html sentenced to 10 years in jail and a fine of $50,000]]. But that's not all. Distribution of objectionable material could send you up to 14 years in jail.
647
648[[AC:General]]
649Because New Zealand is a community-minded nation, any material that is likely to be injurious to the public good gets classified as objectionable (meaning that certain publications are banned effectively. This means possession, distribution, importation or ownership of that material could be confiscated either by New Zealand Customs, Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand Police or by the OFLC and therefore it is illegal to possess, import, own or distribute objectionable material that is banned by NZ authorities could land you a prison sentence of 10 years for possession or 14 years for distribution).
650
651* Suicide is rather a sensitive subject matter in New Zealand because of the high statistical rates of young New Zealanders taking their own lives without proper help.
652* Also a very sensitive subject matter in New Zealand is child exploitation and sexualisation of a minor. This issue is rather concerning. Publications containing that sort (mostly in some anime in which the NZ censors takes issue with) are banned.
653
654
655[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
656* The anime adaptation of ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'' was initially refused classification in New Zealand, on the count that it "encourages and legitimizes the pursuit of young persons as viable adult sexual partners." It was reclassified R16 (restricted to 16-year-olds and above only) in 2022.
657* The second season of ''Manga/MakenKi'' was refused classification in New Zealand, due to what the classification described as a "loose narrative" being used as a vehicle for the sexual exploitation of minors.
658* ''Anime/PuniPuniPoemy'' was classified as "objectionable material" on the grounds that it depicted sexual exploitation of minors. [[https://www.hikari.org.nz/stuff/otaku/ppp/ However, in 2021 the ban was reversed with the show reclassified as R16.]]
659
660[[AC:{{Film}}]]
661Under New Zealand law, any films that has been classified already in either Australia or the United Kingdom will be classified with an NZ equivalent rating.
662* The first ''Film/MadMax1'' film was initially banned for four years, meaning that it was shown later than its sequel ''Film/TheRoadWarrior'', owing to [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents sensitivities over a real-life gang incident in the late 1970s]] that paralleled the "Goose is cooked" scene.
663* The remake of ''Film/Maniac1980'' starring Creator/ElijahWood was banned because of how the murders were filmed from [[POVCam the killer's POV]], which the OFLC claimed was "potentially dangerous in the hands of the wrong person".
664* ''Film/AndyWarholsBad'' was banned on its initial release.
665* According to Netflix, the 2006 documentary ''The Bridge'' is banned in New Zealand due to objectionable content (the film is about, and features, people jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge in an act of suicide).
666* ''Film/BloodyMama'' was banned in New Zealand at one point due to its high levels of violence. The novelization was also banned, and this ban wasn't lifted until 2012, more than four decades after its release.
667
668[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
669* ''The Great Replacement'', the manifesto of the 2019 Christchurch shootings perpetrator, has been banned as "objectionable" by the Chief Censor of New Zealand.
670
671[[AC:VideoGames]]
672* ''[[VideoGame/GalGun Gal*Gun: Double Peace]]'' was banned on account of the sexual exploitation of young persons as well as the use of coercion to compel someone to submit to sexual contact.
673[[/folder]]
674
675[[folder:Nigeria]]
676[[AC:{{Film}}]]
677* ''Film/District9'' was banned from theaters in Nigeria due to its unflattering depictions of Nigerian gangsters and scammers.
678[[/folder]]
679
680[[folder:North Korea]]
681North Korea, probably the single most isolated country in the world, bans nearly anything foreign -- and enforces this through serious punishments. This can happen even to those caught listening to South Korean music (not that it stops South Korea from broadcasting music over the border, through both radio and giant loudspeakers). North Korea even has its own Internet, completely separate from the normal World Wide Web, and thus free of any outside influence. While the North Korean government ''has'' loosened up a bit over the years, it would be easier to list what's foreign and ''not'' banned in North Korea:
682* ''Literature/TheDiaryOfAYoungGirl'' is not banned, and is sometimes required reading in schools. However, the views of the education system and the public differ - The education system [[DarthWiki/WarpThatAesop makes the point that while Anne Frank had a beautiful dream, her foolishness to be defeated by the Nazis is what killed her, and they use this point to demonize the United States of America further]]. [[PeripheryDemographic The public, on the other hand, relate to the struggles of Frank herself]].
683* In the 1990s, the government allowed the novel ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'', to show the people an example of what Western art was like. The idea is that it could show UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and the ugly side of bourgeois capitalism. [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff It became wildly popular]], but for the wrong reasons -- North Koreans related strongly to the struggle for survival in a poor, war-torn country.
684* ''Film/BendItLikeBeckham'' is the only Western movie ever shown on North Korean TV, albeit in heavily abridged form.
685* Mokran Video, North Korea's main (and possible ''only'') home media distributor, began dubbing and distributing some Western content over time, mostly animated movies like ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' and all mainline ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' movies. The only major changes they have in common is the omission of their Western studios' names.
686* Kim Jong-un's regime has slowly allowed more foreign-style media and foreign music, but all of it must be approved by the regime. State TV broadcasts have, for instance, played Music/FrankSinatra's "My Way", and the state-approved girl group "Moranbong Band" is obviously influenced by KPop.
687* Foreign tourists can get foreign TV channels like Creator/{{BBC}} World in their hotel rooms. This is easy to pull off because the only hotel open to foreigners in Pyongyang is on an island in the Taedong River, and you can't leave without a guide or talk to any North Korean civilians, so no North Koreans can learn about TV from tourists.
688* In 2016, the 2006 North Korean film ''Film/TheSchoolgirlsDiary'' was apparently [[{{Irony}} banned in its homeland because the government deemed it "subversive"]]. However, it has been reaired on North Korean television starting in 2020, meaning the ban was either temporary or just a hoax.
689[[/folder]]
690
691[[folder:Norway]]
692[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
693* ''Anime/{{Kite}}'' was apparently banned in Norway due to scenes in the film being considered "child pornography", although whether or not this is actually true appears to be unclear.
694
695[[AC:{{Film}}]]
696* Hardcore pornography was banned in Norway up until 2006. Nude shoots and censored softcore were still legal though.
697
698[[AC:{{Toys}}]]
699* Skateboards were banned in Norway from 1978 to 1989.
700[[/folder]]
701
702[[folder:Pakistan]]
703[[AC:General]]
704* Like many other Muslim countries, Pakistan will ban any media which is perceived to have anti-Islamic themes or contains obscene content.
705
706[[AC:{{Film}}]]
707* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_banned_in_Pakistan Click here to see a full list of banned movies]].
708* Due to [[UsefulNotes/TheIndoPakistanConflict Pakistan's decades-long]] [[UsefulNotes/TheKashmirQuestion conflict with India]], [[{{MediaNotes/Bollywood}} Indian]] [[MediaNotes/TheOtherwoods movies]] in general were banned from distribution in the country. Though the ban wasn't enforced too strictly (judging by the popularity of [[BollywoodMovies Hindi-language films]] in Pakistan), and it was eventually lifted in 2008 -- That was until February 2019, [[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/02/pakistan-bans-bollywood-films-india-tensions-190227054348092.html when all Indian films were again banned in Pakistan because of]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_India-Pakistan_border_skirmishes then-recent military clashes along the border]].
709
710[[AC:WebOriginal]]
711* {{Website/Wikipedia}} was banned in Pakistan on 4th February, 2023 due to the presence of "blasphemic content" that goes against Islamic norms. However, the ban was lifted after a few days.
712[[/folder]]
713
714[[folder:Philippines]]
715[[AC:General]]
716* Although predominantly Filipino-speaking, the Philippines was the strictest country in the English-speaking world (ranked above Singapore) in terms of censorship during the dictatorship era of Ferdinand Marcos. Following the EDSA Revolution, it has since lost that title to Australia.
717
718[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
719* Ferdinand Marcos' KBL regime banned the SuperRobot show ''Anime/VoltesV'' ([[Anime/{{Daimos}} and]] [[Manga/GetterRobo many]], [[Anime/MazingerZ many]] [[Anime/{{Gaiking}} others]]), officially because of violence and horror themes... but the actual reason is kinda messy. Many have said it was because the premise about [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything rebels fighting against a brutal dictator]] hit a little too close to home for Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, but Ferdinand's son Bongbong and one of the ''Voltes V'' Filipino English dub's voice actors have stated that some [[MoralGuardians parents groups]] (And one Catholic group) demanded Ferdinand ban Super Robot anime. This resulted in ''Voltes V'' being adopted as a mascot by rebel factions.
720
721[[AC:{{Film}}]]
722* All of Creator/ClaireDanes' films ([[PersonaNonGrata and herself]]) were banned after some comments she made in ''Variety'' while promoting ''Film/BrokedownPalace'' (which was filmed in the Philippines) were deemed insensitive by the government.
723* Because of SM's policy of not showing R-18 films in their theaters, ''Film/FiftyShadesOfGrey'' was not shown in some cities in the Philippines. That didn't stop the movie from being a box office hit and illegally downloaded on the web.
724* ''Film/{{Plane}}'' got a lot of flak from Senator Robin Padilla who demanded the film to be banned, a sentiment shared by both Senate President Miguel Zubiri and Senator Ronald dela Rosa. Though the Directors' Guild of the Philippines (DGIP) [[https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2023/02/20/2246350/why-trolls-historical-revisionism-allowed-filipino-directors-question-banning-hollywood-film-plane opposed the proposed ban]] because it's nothing but an overreaction to a mindless B-movie and viewers have the choice to either watch the movie or ignore it. To summarize, the premise is about a commercial airliner crashing into the island of Jolo which is depicted as a lawless region run by militias and insurgents, and both the Philippine government and its military are too terrified to even send help (the latter having apparently withdrawn from the island beforehand), forcing Scarsdale to hire mercenaries to initiate search-and-rescue operations instead.
725
726[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
727* ''Literature/NoliMeTangere'' and ''Literature/ElFilibusterismo'' were novels released during the Spanish occupation of the country. Since they spoke about nationwide corruption in the government and church, you can imagine the ruling Spanish and archbishops weren't going to let something like that getting printed in the country. In the post-Spanish occupation Philippines, these once-banned books are now studied in Filipino high schools and colleges.
728
729[[AC:Music]]
730* In 1995, Senator Vicente "Tito" Sotto, also a famous comedian and once a singer in a rock band in the '60s, earned the ire of rock fans when he called for the ban of three songs. The appeal for the ban went nowhere, and painted a picture of Sotto being out on a witch hunt against young rock bands of the present due to his conservative, old-fashioned leanings. The songs he tried to ban:
731** "Alapaap" (Skies) by the Eraserheads, a song about being young, open-minded, and happy. He thought it glorified drug use.
732** "Laklak" (Drinking Booze) by the Teeth, a satirical song of an adult drunk's booze-fueled journey from youth to present. He thought it promoted underage drinking.
733** "Iskolar ng Bayan" (The Town Scholar) by Yano, about stuck-up rich kids in the band members' alma mater, but with a quick, off-the-cuff, non-glorifying drug reference, which he didn't like.
734* Local rock station LA 105.9 banned the song "Posporo" (Matches) by teenage punk band Public Menace due to complaints from Philip Morris International Philippines, claiming that it damages their cigarette company's reputation. The anti-smoking song included lines like ''sige, humithit ka'' ("c'mon, take a puff") and ''sige, mamamatay'' ("c'mon, you're gonna die") sung to the tune of the Marlboro jingle, and the outro played to the tune of The Brass Ring's "The Disadvantages of You", which was used for Philip Morris 100s commercials. It remains one of the few examples of big business forcing a Filipino song to be pulled from air forever by threats of litigation.
735
736[[AC:VideoGames]]
737* A village in Cavite, Philippines [[http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/413042/news/regions/dota-banned-in-internet-shops-in-cavite-village issued a ban]] on the GameMod ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'', citing delinquency issues among the youth and [[SeriousBusiness brawls ensuing]] from the game. Of course, this didn't sit well with the video game community, calling it a foul move on the village officials' end.
738* Video games in general [[http://www.wired.com/2010/11/1119marcos-bans-videogames-philippines/ were banned]] [[https://coriyapavon.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/the-decade-the-philippines-nearly-went-game-over-for-good/ in the Philippines]] during the Marcos regime for much the same reasons through Presidential Decree 519, outlawing the use of pinball machines and other such devices. Like ''Voltes V'' before that, it was since been lifted following the EDSA revolution.
739
740[[AC:WebOriginal]]
741* In January 2017, famous porn sites like Pornhub [[https://technology.inquirer.net/34892/ntc-orders-porn-blockage-in-philippine-internet got blocked by the Philippine government]] citing that there's child pornography. The fact that the Philippines is said to be the 15th most frequent porn watchers in the world might have something to do with it. Though this is only applied to certain internet service providers such as PLDT. So, if you're using other internet service providers such as Globe or having a VPN installed, you still view these sites.
742* [=XVideos=] is fully banned there, regardless of provider, just showing a page that says that the site is banned for having child porn (depite no such thing being present, as the site has [[EveryoneHasStandards strong policies]] banning it).
743* The file hosting service MEGA was also blocked on at least some [=ISPs=], again citing child porn. Accessing the site through its IP address on certain providers, one of them being Converge, would instead show a legal notice citing [[https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2009/11/17/republic-act-no-9775-s-2009/ Republic Act No. 9775]], the Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, which is the law criminalizing the possession and distribution of underage pornography. Indeed, while there have been incidents of illegal pornography being uploaded, this also came at the cost of legitimate, law-abiding users being barred from accessing their safe-for-work projects.
744
745[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
746* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': The episode "Stage Plight" is banned due to a scene of Luan and Benny kissing.
747[[/folder]]
748
749[[folder:Poland]]
750[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
751* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Episodes centering around Finn losing his arm were refused broadcast by Cartoon Network in Poland due to their disturbing content.
752[[/folder]]
753
754[[folder:Portugal]]
755[[AC:{{Film}}]]
756* During the ''Estado Novo'' ("New State") dictatorship, which lasted between 1933 and 1974, over 3500 films were banned for "moral" and political reasons, while others never went to the censors because the distributors knew they wouldn't pass. [[http://grandmasala.blogspot.pt/2010/04/ciclo-filmes-proibidos-antes-do-25-de.html Amongst those]] were any "Russian"/Soviet film (between 1936 and 1970), any Eastern European film (between 1947 and 1970), and any Indian film (between 1953 and 1973), the latter due to the invasions of Portuguese India.
757
758[[AC:Music]]
759* The regime also banned many songs by Portuguese protest singer José "Zeca" Afonso[[note]]as well as other singers and composers involved in the same struggle against the regime, such as José Mário Branco and Adriano Correia de Oliveira[[/note]]. In a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, the rebellion that caused the downfall of the regime was signalled by having Afonso's song "Grândola, Vila Morena" (which, ironically, was not itself banned) play nation wide on the radio.
760[[/folder]]
761
762[[folder:Romania]]
763[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
764* ''Anime/YokaiWatch'': While the second and third seasons [[UnfinishedDub weren't dubbed at all]], the first also has three banned episodes refused broadcast by Cartoon Network due to (allegedly) inappropriate content. Episode 12 centers around Cheeksqueek, a Yo-kai with a butt-shaped face who makes the others fart. Episode 71 introduces Snottle, a Yo-kai who makes people stick their fingers in their nose. Episode 27 also didn't air.
765
766[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
767* The episode "Busted" from ''WesternAnimation/BraceFace'' was banned from Romania because its plot revolves around Sharon wearing a special bra to make her chest larger to impress a boy she has a crush on.
768[[/folder]]
769
770[[folder:Russia]]
771''See the "Soviet Union" folder for bans that took place under communist rule.''
772
773[[AC:General]]
774* Profanity in the media is banned in Russia. The law officially stated 5 (originally 4) prohibited words to ban including all the derivatives, which resulted in a somewhat hilarious situation when media couldn't state the exact words banned by law while covering the story about the law. In case of internet media, they couldn't even give a link to government site with the text of the law (since media watchdog Roscomnadzor explicitly stated that internet site is responsible for all linked content regardless of its origin or who posted it, which in effect resulted in almost complete elimination of comments section on Russian news sites, mass switching to pre-moderation or restricting the comments to current news only, so it would be easier to moderate). This law, like many other new ones, goes against the Russian Constitution, but it's been enacted nonetheless.
775* As of June 2013, Russia has a federal HeteronormativeCrusader law that bans the distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships" (read: LGBT) [[ThinkOfTheChildren among minors]]. In 2022, the ban was extended to ''all'' ages.
776* Anything that is critical to Russia's "Special Military Operations" in Ukraine, since March 2022. Initially in 2014, following the annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea and takeover of parts of Donbas by Russian-backed separatists, a large number of payment processors and online services (particularly those based in the U.S. and Europe) began to block or restrict their services to residents of Crimea (including gaming services, such as Steam, Battle.net, and the local ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'') due to sanctions legally barring them from doing business with the country. Then, in 2022, Vladimir Putin decided to launch an open invasion of Ukraine, which led to a large number of multinational services pulling their wares from Russia and those with physical presences in Russia either suspending or terminating said presences. Any mass media operating in Russia that is critical to Russian military efforts either was shut down or shifted operations abroad and those who operate are either arrested for "misinformation" or forced to leave Russia.
777
778[[AC:Advertising]]
779* The current Russian government blacklists Internet resources advocating drugs, suicide, and terrorism, ostensibly to [[ThinkOfTheChildren protect the children]]. It is quite often that the notice is served to Platform/LiveJournal about a repost, while the original site goes by scot-free. What qualifies as advocating suicide? [[Advertising/DumbWaysToDie A PSA about railway safety.]]
780
781[[AC: AnimeAndManga]]
782* ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya'' has been banned for being "child pornography", most likely due to having elementary school students in borderline-{{Lolicon|AndShotacon}} style fanservice (albeit not to the extent to what they're implying even if there's still extremely uncomfortable bits to get through). In fact, Russia has a strong stance against works they deem Lolicon.
783* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' was banned due to the ghouls committing cannibalism. It is worth noting that before the banning of anime, the ''Tokyo Ghoul'' fandom in Russia was infamous for its toxicity, which gave rise to the Dead Inside subculture. Several ''Tokyo Ghoul'' fans are edgy teenagers known on the Russian Internet for romanticizing maniacs and suicide, for which they are often ridiculed in memes.
784
785[[AC:{{Film}}]]
786* The Communist Party of the Russian Federation tried to get ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' banned for portraying the Soviet Union in a bad light. The film was released over their objections.
787* ''Film/CharlieWilsonsWar'' is not actually banned, but Universal Pictures International Russia decided not to release it, as they was thought that a film with such a strong anti-Soviet tone would be unlikely to make a profit in Russia. Among the Russians who have seen the film, the response is overwhelmingly negative.
788* Narrowly averted: ''Film/{{Beauty and the Beast|2017}}'' was almost banned due to AdaptationalSexuality in a family film (WordOfSaintPaul is that [=LeFou=] is gay in the LiveActionAdaptation of Disney's Renaissance classic). The government has since [[https://www.google.com/amp/amp.usatoday.com/story/98841594/ approved of the screening of the film, albeit with a 16+ rating]].
789* ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin'' has its certification hastily revoked due to accusations of extremism, effectively banning the film in Russia. Before that, movies "mocking" Soviet history and World War II, like ''Film/Child44'', usually were denied certification at all, while this one had received certification (which meant the movie was watched by culture ministry), had a release date and all necessary papers on hands until the movie was screened in the State Duma days before the official premiere. Many deputies threw a public tantrum afterwards, which immediately resulted in controversy, backlash and ended with a certificate revocation. One small cinema dared to show it anyway (since the certificate withdrawal is, once again, almost unprecedented) and ended up with a huge fine and the threat of closure.
790* ''Film/TheGreenElephant'' was banned from mainstream distribution circuits in its home country not just because of its intense and violent themes such as humiliation, army violence, suicide and coprophilia, but because of its showing these things in close up. Despite that, the film has become a CultClassic among Russian internet users. The film was eventually banned as a whole in its home country in 2022.
791
792[[AC:WebAnimation]]
793* Russian channel ''2x2'' got an official warning (two warnings is enough to lose a broadcasting license) from media watchdog after airing ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' and series of shorts called [[https://www.thetvdb.com/?tab=series&id=80195 The Adventures of Big Jeff]] featuring an animated nudist. HTF was aired on other channel (MTV) before without any repercussions. The series weren't banned per se, but no one would touch them with a ten foot pole as a result.
794* The Russian web animation ''Masyanya'' was banned after an episode about the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 was released.
795
796[[AC:Literature]]
797* ''Literature/TheSagaOfTanyaTheEvil'' was banned because the main character is a VillainProtagonist in a FantasyCounterpartCulture of Nazi Germany.
798
799[[AC:WebOriginal]]
800* In 2016, [=LinkedIn=] was banned in Russia for violating a new data retention law.
801* Archive site archive.today is ''partially'' banned in Russia. Russian users can still visit the site directly, but only through HTTP access; HTTP''S'' ('''H'''yper'''t'''ext '''T'''ransfer '''P'''rotocol '''S'''ecure) connections are blocked, meaning that their connections to the site are not private and secure, and thus can be potentially tracked by the Russian government.
802
803[[AC:Western Animation]]
804* The ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' episode "The Real Thomas" [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents was banned from airing on Cartoon Network RSEE because its premise about Thomas being a Russian spy was considered potentially offensive]], given Russia's then-current annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and support (overt or covert) for insurgencies in the country's East. Russian government-owned news outlet RT straight-up called the episode "American propaganda", and indeed, the episode is often seen as ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''-style commentary on current events. Since the Cartoon Network feed in Russia was also shared with Bulgaria, ex-Yugoslav countries, Albania and other ex-Soviet countries (including Ukraine), this ban ended up affecting multiple other countries as well.
805** This ban was also carried out in spite of the fact that the episode was extensively edited and altered by Turner Broadcasting System Europe to remove references to Russia.
806* Several episodes of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' have been banned in Russia due to the "propaganda" law that prohibits promoting LGBT rights or messages. ''Steven Universe'' episodes "The Answer", "Hit the Diamond", "Mr. Greg", and "Last One Out of Beach City" were all never broadcast in Russia (and by proxy Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav countries - themselves strongholds of pro-Russian opinion and support for the gay propaganda law - due to a shared broadcast feed) due to their LGBT-friendly themes regarding Ruby and Sapphire's relationship (resulting in a PlotHole later on with regards to the five Rubies) and Pearl's relationship with Rose. During a panel on a fan convention, Russian dub director Dmitry Filimonov has said that several episodes regarding Ruby and Sapphire's wedding [[TheShelfOfMovieLanguishment were dubbed, but will not be aired]]. Three years later it was revealed that ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'' and ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' were fully dubbed, also never to be shown on Russian television for the same reasons.
807* Same channel ''2x2'' had announced an intention to withdraw ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Season 28 episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS28E19LookingForMrGoodbart Looking for Mr. Goodbart]]" within days of its premiere in USA, where Homer plays a ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' parody during a church sermon, due to the arrest and suspended conviction of [=YouTuber=] Ruslan Sokolovsky for filming himself doing just that (Russia has a federal blasphemy law passed after Pussy Riot incident). In fact, Russia threatened to ban anything to do with ''Pokémon Go'' after the event, although the game has not yet been banned. They ended up broadcasting it anyway years later with the scene cut.
808* Paramount Comedy at least once dropped an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' from broadcast (the one with Jesus wearing a "Free Pussy Riot" T-shirt). One of the previous broadcasters of ''South Park'', namely MTV, also omitted "Bloody Mary" (for religious overtones) and "Passion of the Jew" (for Nazi overtones).
809[[/folder]]
810
811[[folder:Rwanda]]
812[[AC: Film]]
813* ''Film/HotelRwanda'' is banned in Rwanda because of its heroic depiction of convicted terrorist Paul Rusesabagina, who maintains the real reason for his conviction is because the current leader of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, is a dictator who wants to silence him.
814[[/folder]]
815
816[[folder:Samoa]]
817Samoa is relatively a conservative Christian nation in the Pacific. Due to the conservative nature of Samoa's culture, some of the content may not be allowed on grounds of Christian values in Samoa (which are preserved very dearly).
818
819[[AC: Film]]
820* ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' was banned in the country for being deemed critical of the Catholic Church (the country had previously banned the movie's predecessor ''The Da Vinci Code'' for the same reason).
821* ''Film/{{Rocketman|2019}}'' (2019) was banned in Samoa because of a gay sex scene that is considered culturally incompatible in Samoa. ''Film/{{Milk}}'', which is a biographical depiction of gay activist UsefulNotes/HarveyMilk, was also banned.
822[[/folder]]
823
824[[folder:Saudi Arabia]]
825
826[[AC:ComicBooks]]
827* Saudi Arabia banned ''Jalila'' and ''Aya'' because the government considered the [[http://www.comicvine.com/jalila/49-23966/ heroines']][[http://brokenmystic.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/aya-picture.jpg costumes]] indecent, as per Islamic law.
828
829[[AC:{{Film}}]]
830* Although the film medium itself is not banned, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Saudi_Arabia movie theaters were (mostly) absent in this country]]. It was not until 2018 when they started to open them up.
831
832[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
833* In June 2017, Saudi Arabia and several other countries cut diplomatic ties with {{UsefulNotes/Qatar}} over allegations that its government had funded terrorism. As part of the subsequent sanctions, Creator/AlJazeera and other Qatari news agencies were ordered to cease operating in Saudi Arabia (the countries had demanded that the company be shut down), as well as the sports network group [=beIN Sports=], which is based in Qatar (it was originally established by [=Al Jazeera=]) and has a major stranglehold on many significant sports properties across the entire Middle East. Of course, just a few months later, a mysterious satellite service emerged called [=beoutQ=], that was literally rebroadcasting the [=beIN Sports=] channels as a BlandNameProduct by covering up the networks' logo bugs with its own (and also airing anti-Qatar and anti-[=beIN=] propaganda during its programs for good measure). For [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil obvious reasons]], [=beIN=], and a ton of sports organizations, were quite angry about the service, to the point [=beIN=] declined to renew its rights to UsefulNotes/FormulaOne and [[UsefulNotes/EuroFooty the Bundesliga]], but no one at the time knew who exactly rans it. It got to the point where Saudi Arabian football fans couldn't even "legally" watch the 2018 [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup World Cup]]... '''which they were in.''' The service shuttered in 2019, claiming they were upgrading the service, but never returned to air. An investigation eventually found that the service was operating in Saudi Arabia. The two countries would make amends in 2021, and [=beIN=] announced that Saudi Arabia was lifting their ban on the network... which just so happened to coincide with the KSA royal family acquisition of [[UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague Newcastle United]] announced the next day.
834* The second episode of the {{Creator/Netflix}} political talk show ''Series/PatriotActWithHasanMinhaj'' ("Saudi Arabia"), which was heavily critical of the Saudi government (particularly the alleged involvement of Crown Prince [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_bin_Salman Mohammed bin Salman]] in the assassination of the journalist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamal_Khashoggi Jamal Khashoggi]]), was banned in Saudi Arabia and omitted from the Saudi version of Netflix for obvious reasons. Creator/HasanMinhaj himself would later discuss this incident in another episode of his show entitled "Censorship in China" ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin guess what that one's about]]).
835* The Arabic dub of ''Series/DonkeyHodie'' skips 7 episodes due to them referencing elements that aren't considered acceptable in Saudi Arabian culture. They are "The Try Scouts", "Wiz Kazizz Kazaam", "Stanley's One-Dragon Show", "A Donkey Hodie Halloween", "Hey-O, Purple Moon", "Fashion Donkey" and "Bright Bright Bugs".
836
837[[AC:ProfessionalWrestling]]
838* Due to the country's limited rights for women, Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s events in the country (i.e. Greatest Royal Rumble) cannot include female wrestlers. Said shows were always [[MoneyDearBoy about the money]], however.
839
840[[AC:{{Toys}}]]
841* Franchise/{{Barbie}} dolls are banned in Saudi Arabia, partly due to Islamic law and its issues with the female body, but also apparently because the government sees them as "Zionist dolls" and "symbols of the perversion and decadence of the West". An UAE-based toy company created [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulla_(doll) Fulla]] as TheMoralSubstitute, who wears Islamic dress and promotes Muslim values.
842
843[[AC:VideoGames]]
844* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' was banned for setting the [[{{Qurac}} Middle East]] war part (which ends in the now infamous nuclear explosion) in Saudi Arabia. Yes, it's [[AnonymousRinger anonymous]], and it's merely called "Middle East", but the satellite maps point roughly to Saudi Arabia.
845* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' is banned in Saudi Arabia, and the [[https://twitter.com/vgar_sa/status/1653711143528181760 only official explanation given]] by the country's General Commission for Audiovisual Media is that Square Enix refused to make the necessary modifications to the game for it to be approved, without actually specifying what those modifications actually are. The best guess anyone's got is that it's because of an onscreen kiss between two male characters and some material in the game's LoreCodex that specifically refers to them as "lovers".
846* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' used to be banned in Saudi Arabia for "promoting gambling and Zionism". However, that didn't stop some of the media from popping up there anyway, according to [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Controversy Bulbapedia]], the Pokémon wiki. The main victim was [[TabletopGame/{{Pokemon}} the Trading Card Game]], where the Colorless Energy Card resembles the Jewish Star of David. That is why Venus Center and Animation International ceased distributing and dubbing ''Pokémon'' due to the controversy in 2001. After that Lebanon-based KM Productions and its sister company Super M Productions took over the dubbing production of ''Pokémon'' and [[TheOtherDarrin recast everyone]]. The bans have since been lifted.
847
848[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
849* In general, shows with LGBT characters have been either banned or censored. Notably, in the Arabic dub of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' on Nickelodeon/Nicktoons in Arab countries, one of Clyde's dads, Howard, was changed to [[ShesAManInJapan a woman]], complete with a female voice actor.
850[[/folder]]
851
852[[folder:Singapore]]
853[[AC:General]]
854* Material promoting socialism is prohibited in Singapore.
855* Pornographic materials are banned in the country, with possession of pornographic materials being a felony that will result in jail time.
856* In movies and TV shows, scenes or dialogue containing language that is religiously profane or mocks religion is often censored.
857* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum_ban_in_Singapore Sale and resale of chewing gum and bubble gum in Singapore is illegal with the exception of medicinal gum for therapeutic use.]] Possession however is legal and chewing is allowed since it's difficult to tell which gum is medicinal and which is not. However, do note that littering and vandalism in Singapore carries very harsh penalties, especially where vandalism using chewing gum is concerned.
858
859[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
860* One of ''Anime/MacrossPlus'''s soundtrack [=CDs=] was banned in Singapore because of the song "Idol Talk", which contains samples of dialogue from a phone sex operator.
861* BoysLove genre manga was banned, likely in relation to the country's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_377A_of_the_Penal_Code_(Singapore) now-defunct Section 377A]].
862
863[[AC:{{Film}}]]
864* ''Film/TheKidsAreAllRight'' was only allowed one print with an R21 rating, significantly limiting its theatrical release, and was entirely banned on home video.
865* ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' was banned in Singapore as a move of goodwill towards their neighbor Malaysia. Five years later, though, the two countries had a falling-out, and Singapore lifted the ban. The problem is that even after mending the relationship, Singapore can't just re-ban the movie.
866* ''[[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker]]'' was only allowed for theatrical release with a [=PG13=] in Singapore if [[GetBackInTheCloset a same-sex kiss was edited out]]. On Creator/DisneyPlus in Singapore, where the movie is uncensored, the movie is instead rated [=NC16=].
867* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kashmir_Files The Kashmir Files]]'' is banned for its negative portrayal of Muslims.
868
869[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
870* Possession of Jehovah's Witnesses literature is illegal in Singapore and can elicit fines and jail time if convicted. Even being a Jehovah's Witness itself is illegal in the country, which classifies the religion as a cult movement. It's fine for Jehovah's Witness members to visit the country though, so long as they avoid performing activities that the government see as "recruiting new members".
871* ''Wired'' magazine was banned for running the famous Creator/WilliamGibson article [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disneyland_with_the_Death_Penalty "Disneyland with the Death Penalty"]], which heavily criticized the state's authoritarian and hyperconsumerist nature.
872
873[[AC:Music]]
874* The song "Bi" from the Living Colour album ''Stain'' was banned.
875* The song "Music/PuffTheMagicDragon" was apparently banned back in 1963 due to its lyrics allegedly being a metaphor for drugs. Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore do ''not'' mess around when it comes to drugs and depictions of it in the media. However, Malaysia and Thailand saw it (correctly, as it happens) as an innocent children's song and nothing more, and thus it wasn't banned in those countries.
876
877[[AC:VideoGames]]
878* During the time period of the Hot Coffee debacle, ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto: [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'' was banned in Singapore, probably one of the first few video games to be banned in the country.
879* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' was banned because of a brief lesbian sex scene for all but around two days before being unbanned and given an M18 rating. This news story also brought us [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjLw28UVWEU this video]] by the Media Development Authority, the people who banned it in the first place.
880
881[[AC:WebOriginal]]
882* The website of [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Chick Publications, home to the infamous Chick tracts]], is blocked. A Christian couple was convicted of sedition and fined for distributing Chick tracts that portrayed Islam in a negative light.
883* Like in China, many websites are blocked in Singapore by the Media Development Authority. The official websites of publications like Magazine/{{Playboy}} and Penthouse are blocked, as well as "lifestyle sites" that condone homosexuality. Many pornographic video streaming tube sites, in particular anything under the new ".xxx" and ".sex" domain addresses being assigned to {{NSFW}} websites, are blocked as well. As of late, though, the government has been considering lifting the ban (at least partially) in favor of end-user or service-provider based web filters. [[http://getgom.com/ A Google Chrome extension can work around it anyway.]]
884* [[https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_downloads/2020/02/0220_Netflix_EnvironmentalSocialGovernanceReport_FINAL.pdf According to Netflix,]] ''Cooking on High'', ''The Legend of 420'' and ''Disjointed'' are banned in Singapore for glorifying recreational drug use.
885
886[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
887* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' has had some trouble properly getting onto Creator/DisneyPlus in Singapore. The series has a noticeably higher rating of [=NC16=] on the Singaporean version of the service, and multiple episodes of the series are also missing as well.
888[[/folder]]
889
890[[folder:South Africa]]
891Most of the things listed underneath were banned in South Africa during its more restrictive [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra apartheid era]]. Many such titles have since been unbanned following the end of apartheid in 1994.
892
893[[AC:{{Film}}]]
894* ''Film/BeingThere'' had its final scene cut for its original release due to concern that the TwistEnding ([[spoiler:which reveals Chance can walk on water]]) would offend Christians.
895* ''Film/ToSirWithLove'', a 1967 film about a black Guyanese teacher (played by Creator/SidneyPoitier) living in England and dealing with white students, was banned during UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra. Since then, it's been given an A (for "all ages") rating.
896
897[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
898* ''Literature/BlackBeauty'' was formerly banned in South Africa. Having the words "black" and "beauty" in the title was evidently a no-no during apartheid, despite the fact that "Black Beauty" ''is the name of a horse''.
899
900[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
901* The South African government refused to allow the introduction of television broadcasting until 1976, as they felt television would corrupt its people. In 1969, South Africa was one of the few countries where the moon landing could not be seen live. This was seen as a national humiliation and proved to be the catalyst for the eventual lifting of the ban on television. Then, mixed with NoExportForYou, some production companies, as well as British actors union Equity, refused to sell their programs to South Africa in protest of apartheid (it even got to the point where at least one home video distributor declared ''any'' import of its products to South Africa to be an act of copyright infringement). And then Japan came along and sold some anime (one of them being ''Literature/MayaTheBee'') to South Africa without the anti-apartheid movement knowing...
902
903[[AC:Music]]
904* Music/PeterGabriel's ''Music/{{Melt}}'' was banned during UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra due to the song "Biko", a ProtestSong written as a tribute to black anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko, who was killed in police custody in 1977 (as dramatized in the above-mentioned film ''Cry Freedom'').
905* Music/BobMarley's album ''Music/{{Survival}}'' was sold in South Africa during Apartheid, but the title and liner notes of "Africa Unite" were erased with a black marker and on the record itself the entire track was scratched so that it would skip when being played.
906* The Music/PinkFloyd album ''Music/TheWall'' was banned during the Apartheid era because the song "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" was used in a student uprising against racially biased propaganda in the education system.
907[[/folder]]
908
909[[folder:South Korea]]
910[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
911* The first two episodes of ''Anime/EtoRangers'' were banned due to the featured FracturedFairyTale depicted being ''Literature/{{Momotaro}}'', a Japanese folk tale. Since these were [[InfoDump the premiere episodes]], this left a considerable plot gap.
912* Almost any episodes that take place in ancient Japan were skipped in the Korean dub of ''Anime/FlintTheTimeDetective.'' However, this caused DubInducedPlothole regarding [[RememberTheNewGuy a few important characters that appear later in the series.]]
913* [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Banned_episodes#Banned_episodes_in_South_Korea According to Bulbapedia]] several episodes of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' are banned. The list includes the infamous "Electric Soldier Porygon", but it also includes episodes prominently featuring samurai outfits and other items that bring up thoughts of the rocky history between Korea and Japan.
914* Over 40 episodes of ''Anime/SailorMoon'' were cut and banned from broadcast, while all scenes involving the Hikawa Shrine (the shrine that Rei lives in with her grandfather) were excised, along with any scenes depicting Rei in her miko robes or that involved kanji. These changes were in part due to the unpleasant history between Japan and Korea.
915* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' is banned in Korea for the character of, well, Korea being a copycat desperately trying to rip off Japan's entire culture and way of life, despite Korea not appearing in the anime.
916
917[[AC:{{Film}}]]
918* The 1960 movie ''Obaltan'' was banned because it was misinterpreted by South Korea's government as pro-North due to the PTSD-suffering grandmother constantly screaming, "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!!" as she experiences traumatizing flashbacks of the war. She never technically said where they should go, didn't even mention possible defection to North Korea, but still the movie got banned. At the time of its release, South Korea was ''not'' a thriving First World nation.
919* ''Film/FallingDown'' was banned due to its negative portrayal of Koreans (it didn't help that its premiere in the United States was one year after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, in which Koreans were targeted).
920* South Korea banned ''Film/TheInterview'' from its media markets. Yes, that's right, South Korea did, even though it's anti-North Korean. Why? Because it glamorizes the death of Kim Jong-un. Despite their intensive military buildups for that very reason, the South Korean government would much rather avoid a war with North Korea, and found the movie to be in bad taste.
921
922[[AC:Literature]]
923* Until the late 1980s, literary works written by writers who ended up in North Korea when Korea was split into two were banned.
924* Books written in North Korea are usually banned. Libraries will have a special section for North Korean books, which is only open to researchers.
925* The non-fiction economics book ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Free_Trade_and_the_Secret_History_of_Capitalism Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism]]'' has been banned on military premises since 2008, because the Defense Ministry claimed its critiques of neoliberal economics promote anti-government and anti-American sentiments.
926
927[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
928* In the mid-1990s, South Korea banned tobacco smoking in Korean dramas. The ban was later extended to all smoking on TV. If a character smokes in a movie shown on TV, the cigarette will be pixellated.
929* South Korea doesn't really like ''Series/{{MASH}}'', because South Koreans are depicted as living in poverty, even though it's realistic; at the time of the UsefulNotes/KoreanWar and until TheSeventies, South Korea's GDP was smaller than Ghana's.
930* Any show that has Japanese elements is immediately not allowed for airing in the country due to strained Japan-Korea relations. In fact, ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' (an American-made show) and ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'' never got aired in dubbed form at all -- the latter only got any air time when the dubs of ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' and ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' showed them. It was later found out that for the former, it's because Power Rangers licensing is now expensive for the US franchise to keep airing in the country, switching to Super Sentai dubs (Albeit keeping the Power Rangers name). The only Sentai show skipped in the country so far, despite it being not Japanese enough to warrant a ban, is ''Series/KaitouSentaiLupinrangerVsKeisatsuSentaiPatranger'', but for a different reason.
931
932[[AC: Other]]
933* For many years, South Korea had a ban on most cultural products from Japan due to war crimes committed in World War II. This began to be lifted in the late 1990s, although enforcement had been relatively lax since about ten years prior. Due to the fact that anime did catch on in South Korea but couldn't legally be distributed, a number of enterprising South Korean animation houses created a large number of [[TheMockbuster ersatz versions]] of Japanese anime, such as the infamous ''Space Gundam V''.
934* The Wii U was banned despite being released in 2012, nearly nine years after the ban on all Japanese cultural products was supposed to be lifted.
935* Throughout the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, South Korea banned anything which it regarded as either pro-communist or pro-North Korean. These bans were partially overturned in the 1990s.
936* Pornography-- whether live-action or drawn-- is illegal in South Korea. The government blocks porn sites, redirecting users to [[http://warning.or.kr/ a webpage]] warning users that the content is illegal in South Korea. Many {{ImageBooru}}s are considered hentai, and are also banned. Also, the government once added {{public service announcement}}s to Korean VHS tapes to warn the viewers against the illegal videocassettes, which contain pornography (sexual and violent content). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egW1tjQh_ik One of those promos]] even has selected brief clips of sexual and violent Japanese anime, which the Korean government bans for many reasons.
937
938[[AC:Music]]
939Until 1996, music needed to be approved by government censors to be released. Criteria included "public morals" and, under the military dictatorship, politics. After 1996, the government does not outright ban certain songs, but it can classify songs as "harmful to the youth", banning minors from listening to them. Broadcasters have their own lists of songs that they will not air, which includes any song deemed to be unsuitable for minors. Most post-1996 examples below are songs that are classified as "harmful to minors" or banned by one or more broadcasters.
940* Some of Music/{{Queen}}'s music used to be banned in Korea.[[note]]But only in Korean media. United States Forces Korea played Queen without any issue on over-the-air channels easily accessible by Koreans.[[/note]]
941** 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was banned by the government until 1989. One theory was that it was banned because the Czech Republic, which descended from Bohemia, was communist. Another theory was that the line "Mama, I killed a man" was too violent, or that it reminded people of the assassination of President Park Chung-hee. When Live Aid was broadcast in South Korea in 1985, this song was left out.
942** 'Don't Stop Me Now' was deemed inappropriate for minors because of the lyrics 'I'm floating around in ecstacy', and 'I'm a sex machine ready to reload'. The song was allowed to be played on radio after the box office success of the movie ''Film/BohemianRhapsody'' but was still banned from television.
943* In an attempt to protect family values, South Korea usually bans any song or music video that depicts sex or drug use. Examples of this include:
944** [[Music/DongBangShinKi TVXQ's]] "Mirotic" was [[http://www.allkpop.com/2008/11/tvxq_banned_from_korea deemed harmful to minors]] because of its "explicit lyrics". Said explicit lyrics consisted of "I got you under my skin". Subsequently, all albums featuring the song were deemed with an "inappropriate for minors" sign, and a clean version of the song was released, with its lyrics changed to "I got you under my ''sky''".
945** Rain's song "Rainism" was classified as harmful to minors soon after the Rainism album release due to the lyrics "[[TheImmodestOrgasm make you scream]] [[BiggerIsBetterInBed with my magic stick]]".
946** [[Music/BigBang Seungri]]'s "Strong Baby" was [[http://www.allkpop.com/2009/01/seung_ri_is_banned_from_kbs banned from KBS]] for the use of the word "crack", which was later changed to "clap".
947** [[Music/BigBang G-Dragon]]'s album ''Heartbreaker'' was declared [[http://www.allkpop.com/2009/11/g-dragons_album_no_longer_suitable_for_minors unsuitable for minors]] for its "inappropriate" lyrics. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, three songs suggested sex, drug use, and promoted an inappropriate vision of Korea. G-Dragon didn't help matters when he [[http://static.allkpop.com/wp-content/uploads/old/2009_stories/20091205_gdragonconcert13a.jpg dry humped]] one of his female back dancers during his first concert, with minors in the audience. An investigation ensued, a fine was paid, and two versions of the concert DVD were released: one uncensored for adults only and one edited out for minors. [[http://www.allkpop.com/2010/03/g-dragon-is-cleared-of-charges See the detailed article here]].
948** [[Music/TwoPM 2PM]]'s song "Hands Up" used the line "Put your hands up and get your drinks up now", which was changed to "get your dreams up now" to avoid having the song banned from music programs. All references to drinking alcohol were changed to water.
949** [[Music/{{Sistar}} Sistar]]'s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ1hvB_L30o How Dare You]]" suffered a triple whammy. The video was banned from public broadcast because it featured pole dancing (really just dancing near a pole), broadcaster KBS banned it for belittling lyrics (the "how dare you", which is directed at a ''cheating boyfriend''), and another music show banned it for provocative choreography (unrelated to the pole dancing). The last two were circumvented by changing the lyrics and the choreography for performances on those stations.
950* South Korean state broadcaster KBS bans any video that depicts [[http://www.allkpop.com/2010/04/kbs-deems-rains-love-song-music-video-inappropriate-for-broadcast traffic law violations]]. Basically, this means that every video where you see a guy running wildly across the streets gets banned. Examples of this include [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_wC2gClaGU Rain's Love Song.]] And also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASO_zypdnsQ "Gentleman"]] by Music/{{PSY}}, for a single shot in which he kicks over a traffic cone.
951* Any Korean songs must not include a Japanese word in its lyrics. For example, KBS ''also'' banned the Korean-language song "Uh-ee" by Korean band Crayon Pop because it contained the Japanese word "pikapika" in its lyrics. However, SBS MTV and SBS funE subverted it as they allowed the song to be aired there.
952* Other reasons for banning of songs/videos from certain South Korean broadcast channels have included references to brand names, alcohol, violence, LGBT relationships, tattoos, or drugs either visually or lyrically, curse words, and usage of Chinese phrases. In one unique (and particularly harsh) example, the video for “I’ll Call Ya” by unknown girl group M.O.A was banned from broadcast due to ''excessively poor quality''. Blackpink's "Pink Venom" was [[https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/entertainment/2022/09/08/blackpinks-new-song-039pink-venom039-deemed-unfit-for-broadcast-by-south-korean-broadcaster barred from airing on the South Korean network KBS]] and excluded from the channel's Music Bank chart due to the mention of the French luxury brand Celine in the lyrics.
953* The video for Music/OrangeCaramel’s popular song “Catallena” was banned on broadcast channels due to the members portraying different kinds of sushi- not, as one may expect, due to portraying a Japanese dish, but because it “devalued human lives”.
954* From 2005 to 2009, the major broadcasters informally banned indie musicians from appearing on television, after an incident when members of an indie band [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex2j0qV1K0M exposed their genitals]] on live TV.
955* Japan's national anthem Kimigayo is taboo, as it was also the national anthem of UsefulNotes/ImperialJapan. The broadcaster JTBC recieved a warning from the Korea Communication Standards Commission for playing the Kimigayo in one of its talk shows when a Japanese guest appeared on stage.
956* Early South Korean copies of Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/TheDarkSideOfTheMoon''' had "Us and Them" and "Brain Damage" removed, likely due to the anti-war and anti-government lyrics in those songs. It took until 1979 for the album to even have an official release there. Oddly enough, the English lyrics were still printed on the lyric sheet. Copies released after the transition to democracy have the full tracklisting.
957
958[[AC:VideoGames]]
959* South Korea is said to ban the sale of any game depicting [[PossibleWar fictional wars between North and South Korea]]. This includes ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}}: Playground of Destruction'', ''Creator/TomClancy's VideoGame/GhostRecon2'' and ''VideoGame/SplinterCellChaosTheory''. It has since lifted its ban on the ''Ghost Recon'' series as a way of promoting freedom of speech.
960* ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' is obviously banned for depicting both Koreas united under Northern rule.
961* Until the 2000s or so, import video games originating from Japan had to have all Japanese voicework and Japanese song vocals removed, as well as depictions of samurai. As a result, Mitsurugi from the ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur'' series had to be replaced by [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Arthur]].
962* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' was banned most likely due to featuring murders by high schoolers [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents after a case of a 17-year old girl killing and dismembering an 8-year old girl in that country]]. Because the criminal was revealed to have been a regular participant of roleplaying communities (and ''Danganronpa'' was pretty big in the South Korean roleplaying scene), she was thought to have copied the game. In truth, she had never participated in roleplaying ''Danganronpa'' specifically, [[https://kotaku.com/danganronpa-v3-is-banned-in-south-korea-1797292010 but a spokesperson of the South Korean ratings board committee has stated that [=V3=] will remain banned because "[They have] determined that the game had crossed the line where it was difficult to allow this in society"]].
963
964[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
965* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' had started to air on Tooniverse in March of 2000, but it barely got into its first season before the Republic of Korea Broadcasting Committee ordered it banned, due to numerous complaints about its content. In 2019, the show became available on Netflix for a few years.
966* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo" may have been banned (which, of course, was also banned in Japan itself) because it contains a lot of Japanese elements that are usually forbidden from airing over terrestrial signals in South Korea. However, this appears to have been reversed, as the episode is readily available on Creator/DisneyPlus in South Korea, complete with Korean subtitles.
967[[/folder]]
968
969[[folder:Soviet Union]]
970* While modern Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian censorships are relatively lax, back when these countries were united in the Soviet Union, it had a very extensive CulturePolice-type system that inspired the current ''Chinese'' one.Foreign films were graded particularly harshly; domestic films with the following ''might'' get past, depending on the situation. It was not uncommon for domestic films to be created, widely screened, and then censored or banned as well (like the 1930 epic ''Earth'', which was screened extensively and controversially before being censored).
971** Every movie made in the West and not specially approved for translation into Russian was banned. Light-hearted French comedies were approved and translated with little or no fuss, but something like ''Franchise/StarWars'' would be banned and bad-mouthed in newspapers for a long time. ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' was not shown on public television until 1988.
972** Soviet censors were notoriously prudish, so anything with sexual content was banned. A notable exception was the very sexual ''Little Vera'', a ''perestroika''-era thriller.
973** Many overtly religious films (due to the USSR's anticlerical politics and formal promotion of atheism). Due to its status, films about Russian Orthodoxy were more likely to get through (especially during the major religious revivals of the 1940s and 1950s).
974** Anything showing America or another Western country in a positive light was banned. American works that [[CapitalismIsBad trashed capitalism]] and [[DemocracyIsBad democracy]] were more likely to be approved. This backfired on them when the Soviet authorities, at the very end of the Soviet Union, allowed the Creator/OliverStone film ''Film/WallStreet'', as the message Stone was sending (that capitalist fat cats were exploiting the economy for obscene gain) aligned neatly with Soviet ideology. [[MisaimedFandom Soviet viewers cheered on Gordon Gekko as a hero]], [[HilariousInHindsight which hilariously led to him being a more-heroic character in]] [[Film/WallStreetMoneyNeverSleeps the sequel]].
975
976[[AC:{{Film}}]]
977* Despite its socialist message, the film version of ''Literature/TheGrapesOfWrath'' was banned after Soviet audiences ended up being impressed that the Joads could afford their own car.
978* All American films were banned in the USSR until 1932's ''Cabin in the Cotton'', which was the first to be deemed "anti-bourgeois" enough to pass muster (since it's about a sharecropper mediating between management and labor and taking the side of labor).
979
980[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
981* Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' was banned because of its allegory to the Russian Revolution and particularly UsefulNotes/JosefStalin (since it was written as such as a means to slip past the editors).
982* Due to the book's implicit criticism of collectivization and nationalism and its praise of individuality, the original Russian text of ''Literature/DoctorZhivago'' was only available to Russian expatriates around the world until the collapse of the Soviet Union. The author, Boris Pasternak, was also forced to renounce the MediaNotes/NobelPrizeInLiterature under threat of him and his loved ones getting deported or worse.
983* Apart from a few short stories, everything Creator/AleksandrSolzhenitsyn wrote after ''Literature/OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich'' was banned in the Soviet Union. His novel ''The Gulag Archipelago'' was the final straw and caused him to be exiled in 1974. Even before he was deported, he could only publish his work abroad.
984* According to an interview from Noam Chomsky in 1980, even his non-political work was under a total embargo.
985* The second book in ''Literature/TheSpaceOdysseySeries;; by Creator/ArthurCClarke, was banned mid-serialisation in 1984 after it emerged that a number of characters were named after Soviet dissidents.
986
987[[AC:Music]]
988* Foreign rock bands deemed "subversive", like Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/VelvetUnderground, and Music/FrankZappa, were banned. Domestic rock bands, who often imitated the famous greats, were often controversial, but they weren't automatically banned; this is how Music/ViktorTsoi became one of the most famous Soviet Koreans in a country of 300 million people.
989[[/folder]]
990
991[[folder:Spain]]
992[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
993* ''Manga/DragonBall'' has officially been [[https://boundingintocomics.com/2021/03/28/television-channel-in-spains-valencia-region-refuses-to-air-dragon-ball-due-to-law-prohibiting-content-that-encourages-gender-discrimination-through-stereotypes-and-sexist-roles/amp/ rejected from broadcast]] by a government-owned television channel in Spain’s Valencia region named À Punt, with a representative for the channel explaining that the decision had been made been in consideration of local gender legislation that prohibits the airing of “content that encourages gender discrimination through stereotypes and sexist roles”. Even before that, Canal Nou has once aired the series in TheNineties.
994* ''Anime/MazingerZ'' was aired in 1978 and it was pulled out off the air at January of 1979 due to the violent content prevalent in the show. Only thirty-three random episodes had been dubbed -- one of which never even aired. It was not until 1993 that Spanish fans were able to watch the whole dubbed series.
995
996[[AC:ComicStrips]]
997* The ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' album "The Dictator and the Mushroom" (1956) was banned under UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco's regime for poking fun at dictators.
998
999[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
1000* Many books that contradicted or attacked the conservative values and strict social climate of UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco's Spain were banned. One famous example was a book that had its DeadpanSnarker say in one chapter that "1952 has been a very good year. Madrid is so clean there aren't even any dogs around!" Realization hits you suddenly that the author is making an allusion to the famine that many people went through in 1952, when even dogs were considered food.
1001
1002[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1003* ''Saw VI'' was the first mainstream film to be rated X in Spain due to extreme violence, and therefore it cannot be shown in normal commercial theaters—only in approved X-rated cinemas. Disney (the ironic distributor) appealed against this decision, but ultimately was forced to edit several violent scenes before a wide release could be allowed, ultimately pitting the film against its own 3D sequel, which released just weeks later. It's been speculated that the producers of a Spanish film that was to be released at the same time were responsible and that ''Saw VI'' was merely a rare victim of protectionism; it doesn't help that Spain usually happens to be pretty damn lax when it comes to censorship.
1004* Creator/LuisBunuel's ''Film/{{Viridiana}}'' was banned because of its final scene, where the title character closes the door after her [[KissingCousins cousin]] enters the room and the film ends at that point. In the middle of the film, there was also a parody of the Last Supper made by homeless people (with a blind man as Jesus) and a scene where Viridiana's uncle tries to rape her [[spoiler:although he regrets trying to do it and later kills himself]]. This cost Buñuel his passport, and the movie only escaped because actress Silvia Pinal managed to smuggle a copy into the Cannes Film Festival, where it was represented as an independent film because neither Spain nor Mexico wanted to represent the movie.
1005
1006[[AC:Music]]
1007* Under UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco's regime, many songs were banned if they hinted at sex, had links to Communists, or did anything that went against Catholic teachings.
1008** "Theme for a Dream" by Music/CliffRichard was banned for supposedly suggestive lines.
1009** "Hymne a l'Amour" by Music/EdithPiaf was banned because Piaf dedicated it to her lover Marcel Cerdan, with whom she had an adulterous affair at the time.
1010** A Brazilian song with the name Creator/BrigitteBardot in the title was also banned, just because of the title.
1011** A Spanish version of Music/NatKingCole’s record “El Bodeguero” (“The Vintner”) was banned lest it encouraged Spaniards to go out and get drunk.
1012** Music/GeneVincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula" was banned.
1013[[/folder]]
1014
1015[[folder:Sweden]]
1016[[AC:{{Anime}}]]
1017* There were initially some difficulties with importing ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' due to the show's MerchandiseDriven nature (although apparently, the show eventually passed muster). However, Sweden's strict advertising laws (which also ban the broadcast of commercials in the middle of programs) only applies to some public access channels. ''Pokémon'' debuted (and still airs) on [=TV4=], which is part of the public access block, but technically a commercial channel, meaning they can air all the toy commercials they please. The "[=PokéRap=]" segment was classified as "advertising aimed towards children", which is forbidden on Swedish television. Commercial channel [=TV3=] found a loophole to this rule by broadcasting from London.
1018
1019[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1020* Sweden was the first country in the world to implement a government branch for film censorship. It was called "Statens biografbyrå" ("The state cinema bureau") and was founded in 1911. The bureau mainly focused on violence, banning and censoring material it found "skadligt upphetsande" ("dangerously exciting"). When home video arrived in the 1980s, censorship was extended to include them also, although many films ended up slipping through the rain. Censorship was severely relaxed in the '90s, with 1992 being the year that the wall broke, thanks to ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' and ''Film/BrainDead'' being released uncut and unbanned. Censorship was finally ended in 2011, and nowadays the cinema bureau is called "Statens medieråd" ("The state media advice") and mainly focuses on determining age ratings and banning violent pornography (and even so, no porno has been banned in Sweden since 2010). [[http://www.imdb.com/search/title?certificates=se:(banned) Here is a list of about every film ever banned in Sweden. However, please note that the majority of these titles ended up being approved sooner or later anyway, in either cut or uncut form.]] In fact, many of the movies that were unbanned [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity even tends to brag about it]] on the modern uncensored DVD and Blu-Ray releases in the country, such as "[[Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]! Behold the legendary horror classic too gruesome for Sweden in the '70s!".
1021
1022[[AC:Music]]
1023* ''Theatre/UnBalloInMaschera'' was not performed in Sweden until the 1920s. When it was finally allowed there, it was [[AmericansHateTingle detested because of its historical inaccuracy]].
1024
1025[[AC:VideoGames]]
1026* A common myth is that ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive: Dimensions'' is banned in Sweden. At the time of its release, Sweden was caught up in a highly publicized, highly controversial trial of a manga translator, who'd been caught with LoliconAndShotacon porn on his hard drive. In response, a guy asked on a forum if the ''Dead or Alive'' games should be banned then, since they clearly sexualize teenage girls (all ''[=DoA=]'' games before or since, have been released scot-free in Sweden) and in response Bergsala (Nintendo of Europe's official Nordic distributor) didn't pick up ''Dimensions'' for distribution, meaning that it did not get released in Sweden (or in Denmark, Norway and Finland, due to those countries also being served by Bergsala). But it's not banned: you can import it with no trouble whatsoever, and for that matter Sweden doesn't have any government branch or ratings board dealing with video games. And yes, this event is most likely the reason for Dead or Alive introducing Marie Rose, [[TakeThat an underage-looking Swedish character]] to the roster in later entries to the series.
1027[[/folder]]
1028
1029[[folder:Switzerland]]
1030[[AC:{{Sports}}]]
1031* Most motorsport racing, at least that involving cars, has been banned in the country since 1955 after the Le Mans disaster, when a crash killed the driver and 83 spectators. For several decades, the only car-based motorsport events allowed in the country were time trials like hillclimbing, plus UsefulNotes/{{rallying}} (which also doesn't involve direct on-course competition between vehicles, except when one car catches up to the one that started before it). Motorcycle road racing also falls under the ban, but off-road disciplines such as motocross have never been banned. UsefulNotes/MonsterJam (which had one event in 2006 at Hallenstadion in Zurich as part of an international tour) was surprisingly not banned. In 2015, the country lifted its ban on car-based road racing, but only for electric vehicles, in hopes of getting a race in the UsefulNotes/FormulaE series (which finally happened in 2018).
1032[[/folder]]
1033
1034[[folder:Thailand]]
1035[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1036* The Thai government has banned nearly every rendition of ''Anna and the King of Siam'' and ''Theatre/TheKingAndI'' ever made because the King of Siam, who is culturally seen as a divine being, is depicted as a flawed human being in that story. What's worse is that no matter how much the filmmakers rework the story, it ''always'' somehow ends up getting banned in that country. The fundamental problem here is that no matter how respectfully and positively modern filmmakers may portray the King, the basic story still implies that Thailand is a backwards country filled with people who need someone from the West to civilize them.
1037
1038[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
1039* UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}} actively bans written works that criticize the Thai royal family, and under Thai law, authors who attack the Thai king are subject to imprisonment. This is evident in the jailing of an UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}n novelist in 2008.
1040
1041[[AC:Magazines and Newspapers]]
1042* ''Magazine/TheEconomist'' is banned due to one of its writers insulting the Thai royal family and accusing it of abusing its power.
1043
1044[[AC:Music]]
1045* The video for Music/ChristinaAguilera's "Drrty" was censored in UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}} (and caused some minor controversy in America) due to Thai-language posters that read "Thailand's Sex Tourism" and "Young Underage Girls".
1046
1047[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]
1048* The song "One Night in Bangkok" from the musical ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'' is banned, probably due to its description of UsefulNotes/{{Bangkok}} as [[HolidayInCambodia a "crowded, polluted, stinking town" that's only good for sex tourism]]. Despite this, it gets frequent play there.
1049
1050[[AC:VideoGames]]
1051* ''VideoGame/{{Tropico}} 5'' was banned in Thailand [[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/05/bangkokblocked_thailand_turns_away_tropico_5/ because the game hit too close to home with the military junta that had seized control of the country]]. The first four games and ''6'' remain unbanned, however.
1052* The entire ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series was banned in 2008, after a murder/robber confessed to being a fan of ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV GTA IV]]'' after robbing and killing a taxi driver. This affected subsequent releases such as ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars Chinatown Wars]]'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', though it didn't affect digital sales, making it a loophole.
1053
1054[[AC:{{Web Original}}]]
1055* Facebook and Twitter were temporarily blocked in Thailand after a military coup took place in 2014. The excuse was that they needed to stop the rebels from "spreading lies and further destabilizing the already fragile political environment".
1056* The Ministry of Digital Economy and Society [[https://thethaiger.com/news/national/pornhub-and-other-sites-to-remain-blocked-as-they-conflict-with-good-morals-for-upstanding-citizens announced that it would ban Pornhub and 190 other pornographic websites in November 3, 2020,]] which generated backlash from internet users. The ministry stated that the ban was part of the efforts to restrict access to porn and gambling websites, which remains illegal in Thailand to this day.
1057
1058[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
1059* Depictions of smoking are [[NoSmoking pixelated on TV]], such as on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E8NewKidOnTheBlock "New Kid on the Block]]", in which Bart "smokes" bubbles from a toy pipe while talking to Laura (yet the ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' story in which Bart and Lisa are British detectives out to find a prostitute killer did leave in every scene of people smoking opium -- ''including'' the bizarre ending in which the events were a crazy opium hallucination as seen in Ralph Wiggum's mind). [[https://web.archive.org/web/20111221173147/https://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok-simpsons-simpsonssmoking.html See for yourself]].
1060[[/folder]]
1061
1062[[folder:Turkey]]
1063[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
1064* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' was taken off from air after children were inspired to jump off a balcony and broke their legs.
1065
1066[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1067* Any film depicting UsefulNotes/{{the Armenian genocide}} (which, according to the Turkish government, officially never happened), anything critical of the military, and any newspaper, book, or film made by an ethnic Kurd or Armenian can have its creators charged under the article 301 of the penal code for insulting the Turkish identity. This is what happened to Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist based in Istanbul. He was murdered in 2007 for his views, and [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6281193.stm major uproar ensued]]. They might be getting ''ever so slightly'' better about this, as Creator/AtomEgoyan's ''Film/{{Ararat}}'' was screened there, albeit with heavy edits, and amidst threats from nationalist groups.
1068* ''Film/{{Cuties}}'' was banned in UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} on the same day the film was premiered on Creator/{{Netflix}}, despite Netflix having fully dubbed the entire film into Turkish.
1069* Lars Von Trier's ''Film/{{Nymphomaniac}}'' was banned for having lots of sex scenes, making it, in their opinion, more porn than art.
1070* 1970 British-American war film You Can't Win 'Em All is banned because a slander. In short: A turkish magazine wanna make a interview, they refused and said magazine accused movie for ''Anti-Turkish rhetotic''. Banned lifted in 2013 when a premium movie channel called Movie Smart aired for the first time in Turkey
1071
1072[[AC:WebOriginal]]
1073* Various websites, such as Blogger.com, [=WordPress=], UsefulNotes/RichardDawkins' [[http://www.richarddawkins.net/ website]], [[http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/ Little Green Footballs]], and [[http://mypetjawa.mu.nu The Jawa Report]] have all been banned in Turkey at one time or another, all for the same reasons. Dawkins has a banner on his site marking this as a point of pride.
1074* [[http://www.armenianweekly.com/2010/11/05/sex-tape-prompts-turkey-to-reinstate-youtube-ban/ According to a report]] from Reporters Without Borders, more than 5,000 websites are censored in Turkey.
1075* Turkey's mass censorship of Internet sites they don't like has reportedly been taken to the next level, threatening online journalists and imposing a system that will monitor its people's internet activity. [[http://panarmenian.net/eng/news/72216/ Anonymous]] is launching one of its "hacktivism" attacks in response. An Internet filtration system was later put officially in place. The government says it's in place to protect children from viewing pornography, but it can (and probably will, as many protesting Turkish citizens fear) be used to censor anything the government doesn't want its citizens viewing.
1076* {{Website/Wikipedia}} was banned in Turkey on 29 April 2017, '''in every language''', until it was finally unbanned more than two years later on 15 January 2020. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_of_Wikipedia_in_Turkey Read more here]].
1077
1078[[AC:Western Animation]]
1079* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E13MobileHomer Mobile Homer]]" was unavailable on the Turkish version of Creator/DisneyPlus, likely due to its unflattering depiction of the Turks.
1080[[/folder]]
1081
1082[[folder:Turkmenistan]]
1083Turkmenistan is one of the most repressed and isolated countries in the world.
1084
1085[[AC:Music]]
1086* Recorded music was banned in all places in 2005 because of the growing foreign influence. Lip syncing was also banned at public concerts in the same year.
1087* Opera and ballet were banned in 2001 because the Türkmenbaşy found them unnecessary to their culture.
1088
1089[[AC:VideoGames]]
1090* Virtually all of them during Nyýazow's rule.
1091
1092[[AC:Other]]
1093* International travel is banned.
1094[[/folder]]
1095
1096[[folder:Uganda]]
1097[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1098* Uganda's president UsefulNotes/IdiAmin banned ''all'' foreign films from 1972 until 1979 on the grounds that they contained "imperialist propaganda".
1099[[/folder]]
1100
1101[[folder:Ukraine]]
1102[[AC:Film and Television]]
1103* ''Film/Bruno2009'', ''Film/Saw3D'', ''Film/LandOfTheDead'', ''Film/HostelPartII'', and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' were (or still are) at one point banned in Ukraine for violence (''Saw 3D'', ''Land of the Dead'', and ''Hostel: Part II''), sexual content considered deviant by the Ukrainian government (''Bruno''), and subversive content/humor (''Bruno'' and ''The Simpsons''), respectively. Additionally, Ukraine was once threatening to ban ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', out of the belief that it promotes {{ho|Yay}}mosexuality (the allegation of the show promoting homosexuality is a myth propagated by loony fans and conservative religious groups -- at least in America).
1104* Regarding ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Ukraine didn't find Homer the incompetent nuclear safety inspector very funny due to the UsefulNotes/{{Chernobyl}} disaster. In 2009, ''The Simpsons'' stopped airing on the Ukrainian channel M1. Although people have speculated that the show was unofficially banned in the country, the official reason was that the channel's rights to the series had expired. A year later, the show returned on [[ChannelHop different Ukrainian channels]] until 2021.
1105* In 2015, in retaliation for the Crimean crisis, the Ukrainian government began to blacklist Russian artists who supported the annexation of Crimea by Russia from entering the country and restricting new films featuring blacklisted actors from being exhibited in the country. Although older films are not covered by this policy, the negative stigma prompted a Ukrainian television network to end its annual tradition of airing ''Film/TheIronyOfFate'' on New Year's Eve because it contained a blacklisted actress (Valentina Talyzina).
1106
1107[[AC:Video Games]]
1108* Due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukraine's Digital Ministry has [[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/02/ukraine-wants-ban-on-game-allegedly-funded-by-russians-and-set-in-glorified-ussr/ reportedly]] called for a ban on the Russian game ''VideoGame/AtomicHeart'' in Ukraine, which it accuses of "romanticizing communist ideology and the Soviet Union".
1109[[/folder]]
1110
1111[[folder:United Arab Emirates]]
1112
1113[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
1114* As with other Arabic-speaking countries, anime shows that feature a girl as a protagonist, including many MagicalGirl and MagicalGirlWarrior shows, tend to get banned from the United Arab Emirates. This is why ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' [[NoExportForYou never got an official release in the United Arab Emirates]] [[LateExportforYou until 2021]], when Creator/{{Netflix}} announced that it would release ''Anime/SailorMoonEternal'' in the United Arab Emirates.
1115* YaoiGenre and YuriGenre manga are banned as LGBTQ+ activities are illegal in the country.
1116* As with Kuwait, the ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' -- ''To the Swordsmith Village'' movie was banned due to a nude scene where Mitsuri takes a shower in a hot spring.
1117
1118[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1119* ''Film/BlackSwan'' is banned for sexual themes considered too taboo for the country's sensibilities. It would have been released with cuts made, but Mohammad Naser, the UAE cinema censor, declared that there would be too much to cut and that there's no point in showing a butchered film.
1120* As with Singapore, ''[[Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker]]'' was only allowed to be shown in the country if [[GetBackIntheCloset a same-sex kiss was edited out]].
1121
1122[[AC:VideoGames]]
1123* ''VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift'' is banned on the grounds of suggestive and revealing outfits on some characters.
1124* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' is banned likely due to the game's mass amount of sexual content and drinking featured in the game.
1125* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' is banned for showing Dubai as a devastated city left to rot under massive sandstorms. Listening to the audio logs found in the game shows that [[spoiler:the government of the UAE and Dubai ordered a media cover-up on the increasingly dangerous and powerful sandstorms, then fled once the sandstorms grew too intense]]. Unlike the other examples, which the ban only applies for registered retailers to desist selling those products via their local outlets (privately owning the game or buying it online aren't illegal), the government had extended their focus for this title going far as to block the game's official website and subsequently stop the title's distribution throughout the rest of the GCC, as well as in Jordan and Lebanon.
1126* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' was almost banned... until the title change to Injustice: ''Heroes'' Among Us; then, it was allowed to be released.
1127* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' was banned because of the presence of casinos (including the BettingMiniGame) and brothels (including strippers and OptionalSexualEncounter, although the latter case is fade to black), both are plot important places. However, the digital versions aren't banned.
1128* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' was banned because of the high violence and sexuality content. The 2018 [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 PS4]] game, which toned down the former and lack the latter, was not.
1129* The fourth entry of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' has become banned in the UAE for undisclosed reasons.
1130
1131[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
1132* ''Webcomic/TheMeek'': According to the author's commentary [[http://www.meekcomic.com/comic/2-23/ here,]] the comic's website is banned; this is likely because of the nudity present in some chapters of the comic.
1133[[/folder]]
1134
1135[[folder:Venezuela]]
1136[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
1137* Hugo Chavez's administration was quick to ban any show it didn't like. The most notable was Colombian soap opera ''Chepe Fortuna'', which had a supblot concerning two middle-aged sisters, [[SiblingRivalry Colombia and Venezuela]]. Colombia is an [[PuritySue industrious, honest, long suffering lady]], while Venezuela is a FatBastard of a woman who believes herself to be gorgeous, constantly gets into ill-fated {{Get Rich Quick Scheme}}s and has an excessive love for her [[MisterMuffykins tiny doggie]] [[RefugeInAudacity named Hugo]].
1138
1139[[AC:VideoGames]]
1140* A law banning all video games that include objectives in which the player has to kill, was approved in late 2009 and made effective in March 2010.
1141[[/folder]]
1142
1143[[folder:Vietnam]]
1144[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1145
1146* Vietnam banned the live-action ''Film/{{Barbie|2023}}'' film, alleging that one scene displays the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-dash_line nine-dash line]] map of the South China Sea. Said line depicts Chinese territorial claims (of both the mainland and Taiwan) in that body of water, which are vehemently disputed by Vietnam and the other coastal countries (Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines).
1147* ''Film/{{The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo|2011}}'' was banned in Vietnam, though the decision was ultimately made by Sony's international distribution company, who protested Vietnam's censors cutting out the nude scenes.
1148* ''Film/TheHungerGames'' was delayed indefinitely from its supposed 30 March 2012 release in Vietnam. Officially, the ban was for showing youth violence, though it has probably has more to do with the country not being happy with a film that [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything shows youngsters fighting back against a totalitarian state.]]
1149* According to Netflix, ''Film/FullMetalJacket'' is banned in Vietnam.
1150* The Korean movie ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Roundup_(2022_film) The Roundup]]'' was banned in Vietnam. The official reason given was the film being too violent, though the film's depiction of Ho Chi Minh City as a lawless place may be the actual reason for the ban.
1151* ''Film/Uncharted2022'' was banned due to "illegal images" of the infamous Nine-Dash Line over the South China Sea.
1152
1153[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
1154
1155* The Korean drama series ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Women_(2022_TV_series) Little Women]]'' was banned on Netflix in Vietnam due to the show's glorification of the South Korean soldiers in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar, and as well as a character of the show named Won Ki Seon, a former Vietnam war veteran.
1156
1157[[AC:WebOriginal]]
1158
1159Unlike neighboring China, Vietnam does not block many websites -- in fact, Website/{{Facebook}}, Platform/YouTube, Website/{{Twitter}} and other major Western sites can be easily accessible. However, being a socialist state, censorship is still pervasive, and there are still a number of websites blocked there:
1160* [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]]'s website is blocked in Vietnam. Not just the Vietnamese edition, '''every site operated by BBC is blocked.''' This comes as no surprise, [[DirtyCommunists given how BBC views the socialist countries like Vietnam]].
1161* Just like BBC, any website that is biased against the government is also blocked, such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.
1162** Strangely {{averted|Trope}} with Falun Gong's ''The Epoch Times'' -- it is well-known for bashing the Vietnamese government (despite being one of the countries who are willing to be confrontational towards China, the other being India), and yet it is still accessible.
1163* The government passed the Cybersecurity Law which was modeled after the recent EU law and has been in effect since January 2019. All anti-government websites are hard-blocked[[note]]They can only be accessed with VPN[[/note]]. Facebook and Google were requested to set their Vietnamese servers in Vietnam, just like how EU has consistently asked Facebook and Google to do so for the past decade.
1164[[/folder]]
1165
1166[[folder:Yugoslavia]]
1167[[AC:{{Film}}]]
1168* ''Ciguli Miguli'' was banned under the regime of Josip Broz Tito for its satire of socialist bureaucracy. A license for public showing wasn't issued until 1977.
1169
1170[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
1171* ''Castration of the Wind'' by Prvoslav Vujčić was banned by court order in 1984. It was republished in 2005.
1172* ''The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System'', written by Milovan Đilas, was banned in Yugoslavia by court order in 1957.
1173[[/folder]]

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