Streaming platform iQiyi “temporarily” blocks 10 LGBTQ shows from Singapore access

Streaming platform iQiyi has “temporarily” blocked access to 10 shows containing LGBTQ themes in Singapore.

Among the series currently blocked from access in Singapore are iQiyi’s own Thai-language boys love original dramas KinnPorsche and Until We Met Again. In a statement to Variety, a spokesperson for iQiyi said that the shows were “temporarily removed in compliance with the (Singaporean) Infocomm Media Development Authority’s guidance towards R21 content,” which restricts the content for those aged 21 and above.

iQiyi is currently working on stricter access controls before the content is restored, with the company explaining: “We are working on UI improvement and aim to reinstall respective content catalog once the required mechanism is implemented.”

The Singapore Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) announced that LGBTQ media content in the country will remain restricted following the country’s recent repeal of Section 377A of the Penal Code that legalised same-sex relationships in the country on August 21.

Content containing “promotion of homosexuality” or “excessive depiction of sexual activity between individuals of the same gender” is not allowed, with the country’s InfoComm Media Development Authority releasing a content code that looks over homosexuality in films to remain “sensitive to community values.”

“Films that centre on alternative sexualities may be classified at (the) highest rating of R21,” the code states. “Non-explicit depictions of sexual activity between persons of the same gender may be featured at R21 rating.”

Movies with homosexual themes can be classified under M18 only if the content is “discreet in treatment and not gratuitous”.

Singapore’s rating board limited Disney Pixar film Lightyear only to viewers aged 16 and above earlier this year this June, noting a same-sex kiss as a depiction of homosexuality. The movie was also banned in 14 countries including Saudi Arabia, and went unreleased in Malaysia, due to this scene.

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