Netflix may have to censor some of its content for other countries

"Narcos," the Netflix series based on the life of the drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, is a great show.It's exciting, full of suspense, tells a great story, and there are some pretty steamy sex scenes.But how thesex scenes in "Narcos," and those in any other globally distributed Netflix show, will bereceivedin some of the more conservative countries Netflix began operating in on Wednesday, like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, and Afghanistan, remains to be seen.Netflix surprised the tech communityand perhaps someof the worldwhen it announced at CESon Wednesdaythat its streaming service is now available everywhere in the worldexcept for China, North Korea, Crimea, and Syria.And alteringits original content tosome of the new territoriesis something Netflix mayhave to confront.So far, however, Netflix hasn't censored any of its content, Anne Marie Squeo, a Netflix spokesperson,told Tech Insider."We're an on-demand service that allows people to choose to sign up and decide what, where and when to watch," Squeo wrote in an email to Tech Insider. "The service includes ratings guides and episode synopses to help people decide, and we also provide a PIN-code system to ensure children can't view certain content."But Reed Hastings, the company's CEO, hasn't ruled out censoring its programmingin the future.The Verge's Ross Miller asked Hastingson Wednesday about the company's policy with regard to such censorship, and hedidn't exactly give a straight answer:"As to your question about... different versions like "airplane cuts," we'll have to see and we'll have to learn," Hastings said, according to The Verge. "I think entertainment companies have to make compromises over time... the thrust of what we're trying to do is have the artistic vision be consistent through the world."Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, added thatthis isn't a new issue for studios "so we'll just have to do the same," according to The Verge.In addition to globally distributed movies and TV shows, Netflix already has geographically-specific content geared toward different countries and territories. It also supports nearly two dozen languages, including Arabic, Japanese, and Korean.SEE ALSO:Yes, the Netflix CEO has been known to 'Netflix and chill'Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: Aziz Ansari nails Hollywood's race problem in one great episode of his new Netflix show 'Master of None
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