Amazon show with Hong Kong protest scenes not shown in city / Photo: Theo Wargo - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
-
Spurs sign Dubravka as goalkeeper cover
-
Verstappen seeking home boost with Red Bull upgrades
-
Stocks steady after tech rout, Brent falls below $75
-
'You have to work': Riders brave Rome heat for survival
-
England captain Stokes 'man enough' to apologise for curfew breach
-
France detects first Ebola case outside Africa in current outbreak
-
England captain Stokes 'man enough' to apologise after curfew breach
-
'GTA VI' preorders mark first test for biggest game of 2026
-
German naval ambitions suffer setback as warship order axed
-
Stocks rebound after tech rout, oil prices drop
-
London police to extend use of live facial recognition, drones
-
Australia spy chief warns of Iran terror threat
-
Europe swelters under record-breaking heatwave
-
Heatwave-hit Europe must adapt healthcare: WHO
-
Iran says deal to end Mideast war 'declaration of US defeat'
-
Euclid telescope snaps best photo yet of Milky Way's heart
-
S.Korea chip giant SK hynix seeks $29 bn in Nasdaq listing: regulatory filing
-
French-German tank maker KNDS fires starting gun on mega-IPO
-
'Pragmatists' vs 'hardliners': Is Iran split over US deal?
-
Right-winger Fujimori poised to win Peru president runoff
-
H5 bird flu detected in second Australia state
-
Major power outage in France as Europe wilts under record heat
-
Brazil aim for last 32 as World Cup goes into hectic phase
-
Back in stork: returning birds bring joy to Croatian village
-
Necessity drives gold miners in DR Congo's Ebola epicentre
-
China premier urges AI governance to avoid 'losing control'
-
Japan PM heckled at WWII memorial
-
Colombia beat DR Congo 1-0 to reach World Cup knockouts
-
Hanoi residents mount silent protest over home demolitions
-
West Indies brace for Sri Lanka challenge as Da Silva returns
-
US Congress passes symbolic Iran war rebuke to Trump
-
Stokes urged to use curfew controversy as fuel to beat New Zealand
-
Bolivia's government is 'stoking a civil war,' ex-president Evo Morales tells AFP
-
Seoul bounces as Asian markets look to recover from rout
-
Fans in China put politics aside to cheer Japan at World Cup
-
North Korea's Kim unveils plans for 10,000-tonne warships, nuclear navy
-
Geopolitics and AI in spotlight at China's 'Summer Davos'
-
Ghosts of Gijon linger as new World Cup format encourages collusion
-
Race for robotaxi market arrives in London
-
Panama out of World Cup after defeat to Croatia
-
Moana Pasifika axed from Super Rugby after rescue talks fail
-
Wizards choose teenage talent Dybantsa with No.1 pick in NBA Draft
-
Golden Boot battle steals the show at World Cup
-
Tuchel insists England remain on course at World Cup despite Ghana draw
-
Red or green? For Brazil, the politics of World Cup kits matter
-
Cytta Corp CEO Shareholder Update
-
NextBoat Reports Strong Integration Progress Following APEX Acquisition
-
ATWEC Technologies, Inc. Announces Corporate Name Change to Park-Aid Asphalt and Maintenance, Inc., New Independent Directors Now Reflected on OTC Markets, and Provides Corporate Update
-
FLY REBEL LIGHT, FLY! American Rebel Light Beer Lands at Lincoln Financial Field - America's Patriotic Beer Has Arrived at One of America's Greatest Stadiums
-
Allied Universal Among America's Most Patriotic Companies According to Newsweek
Amazon show with Hong Kong protest scenes not shown in city
A new television series starring Nicole Kidman and featuring scenes of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests debuted on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, but could not be accessed in the Chinese city where it was partly filmed.
"Expats" revolves around the lives of three American women -- including a protagonist played by Kidman, who is also an executive producer -- in the former British colony in 2014, according to Amazon.
Created by Chinese-born American filmmaker Lulu Wang based on a 2016 novel, its first two episodes were listed as "currently unavailable" for viewers based in Hong Kong.
According to early reviews of the show, its penultimate episode -- set to be aired on February 16 -- includes scenes recreating Hong Kong's 2014 Umbrella Movement: a 79-day occupation of main thoroughfares to oppose Beijing's restrictive election rules.
Amazon's website on Friday listed the show's country availability as "worldwide".
AFP has contacted Amazon as well as Hong Kong authorities for comment.
Five years after the Umbrella Movement, Hong Kong saw fresh protests that were massive and at times violent, with demonstrators taking to the streets to call for greater freedoms.
Beijing clamped down on dissent in 2020 by imposing a national security law on Hong Kong, which critics say has affected the city's artistic and cultural freedom, and tightened censorship.
In 2021, Hong Kong also passed censorship laws forbidding broadcasts that might breach the national security law.
Censors have since ordered directors to make cuts to their films and refused permission for others to be shown.
While those rules do not cover streaming services, authorities have warned that online platforms are still subject to the national security law, which criminalises the broadly defined crimes of subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Episodes from "The Simpsons" that satirised the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and forced labour in China were previously found to be missing from the Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong.
"Expats" -- partly filmed in Hong Kong in 2021 -- sparked controversy then when Kidman was allowed to shoot scenes without having to follow quarantine rules, which at the time were among the strictest in the world.
G.P.Martin--AT
