Disney+ Hotstar has been found censoring a few words from the popular animated series DuckTales.
The Disney owned streaming service has deleted all spoken mentions of beef from DuckTales, including the word ‘ham’ in ‘hamburger’. The word ‘hamburger’ however, is kept intact in the English subtitles, Gadgets 360 reports.
In fact, what’s funny is that the Hindi-language dub of the animated series changes it to ‘cheeseburger’, implying a hamburger topped with cheese, or a vegetarian cheese burger.
A Reddit user was the first to speak about this, noting that the word ‘ham’ in ‘hamburger’ had been silenced. The first mention of this appears on DuckTales season one episode one – Woo-oo! at the 11:35 minute mark.
Disney+ Hotstar and Disney Channel, DuckTales‘ original broadcaster in India have denied to comment on the reason behind the censoring of the word ‘ham’.
Disney Channel India are subject to self-regulation in India, with a threat of fine and licence suspension, which has enabled a massive self-censorship on TV. And that trend is now moving online. Similarly, earlier Netflix too found itself in a similar situation with the historical drama Vikings and were censored in much the same way.
The government is hoping to change that. It’s been pushing for more self-censorship by way of a new self-regulation code known as the Digital Curated Content Complaint Council (DCCCC). The DCCCC is expected to effectively work along the lines of how television content is moderated in India. Disney+ Hotstar is one of five players who are on board with the DCCCC.
In the past, Disney+ Hotstar has also removed an episode critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and erased jokes aimed at its parent company Disney.