South China Sea map complaint sees Netflix pull ‘Pine Gap’ episodes in the Philippines

Authorities ruled in September that certain episodes of Australian show ‘Pine Gap’ violated Philippine sovereignty and were ‘unfit for public exhibition’

Earlier this year Vietnam lodged a complaint over the same issue, prompting Netflix to pull the entire six-episode drama in the country

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Episodes two and three of the show have been tagged ‘removed by government demand’ on Netflix in the Philippines. Photo: AP

Published: 10:13pm, 1 Nov 2021Updated: 10:37pm, 1 Nov 2021

Netflix has removed two episodes of an Australian spy show from its streaming service in the Philippines after Manila objected to scenes showing a map with Beijing’s claims to the disputed South China Sea.

China has long used its so-called nine-dash line to justify its claims over most of the resource-rich South China Sea, where the Philippines has rival claims.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said Monday it had lodged a complaint over the map which included the line – shown briefly in the drama Pine Gap – with the Philippines’ broadcasting authority.

Episodes two and three of the show had been tagged “This episode removed by government demand”. It was not clear when they were pulled.

Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board ruled in September that certain episodes of the show violated Philippine sovereignty and were “unfit for public exhibition”, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.