In the first episode, conversations about the character’s ex-wife Ross, Carol Willick, who is divorcing him after realizing she is a lesbian, were deleted. Other conversations that were sexually suggestive were also removed.
In the original version, Ross mentions that “there was only one woman” for Carol, leaving him for her friend Susan Bunch, while his friend Joey asks him if he ever knew she was a lesbian.
The show debuted in 2012 on the Chinese streaming platforms Sohu video and iQiyi without any censorship, and this was available to watch until the streaming deal ended in 2013.
After the burgeoning popularity of the 2021 special ‘Friends: The Reunion’, in which the six protagonists came together to reminisce about the show, Chinese streaming platforms jointly bought the broadcasting rights to the show.
Platforms such as Bilibili, Tencent, Youku, Sohu and iQiyi started streaming “Friends” from February 11.
The hashtag was viewed more than 54 million times on the site Friday night, but was later censored by the platform on Saturday morning, with search results showing that “this topic is not displayed under relevant laws and regulations.”
DailyExpertNews has reached out to Bilibili, Tencent, Youku, Sohu and iQiyi for comment.
In the previous version on Sohu, Ross said: “[Women can have] multiple orgasms” when discussing the benefits of men and women with his friends at the cafe. However, in the recent release, the platforms replaced the Chinese subtitle of Ross’ line with “Women have endless gossip”, despite retaining the original soundtrack and English subtitles.
Many netzines deride this as an ‘insult to our English language skills’. One Weibo user said, “It not only ignores women’s sexual desire and pleasure, but also reinforces women’s gender stereotypes.” This comment got more than 81,000 likes.
The censorship is the result of the Chinese government’s tightening of control over media and entertainment.
In 2016, China issued new guidelines stating that television shows should not feature storylines about same-sex relationships, as well as other topics that “exaggerate the dark side of society.” The eight-page document referred to “vulgar, immoral and unhealthy content” and deemed homosexuality, extramarital affairs, one-night stands and underage love off-limits.
Jeevan Ravindran of DailyExpertNews contributed to this report.