In Saudi Arabia, a popular animator faces jail time — for being irreverent

The latest repressive episode in Saudi Arabia involves a dual U.S.-Saudi citizen filmmaker, Abdulaziz al-Muzaini, who helped create a hit Netflix animation series, “Masameer,” which satirizes life in the conservative Islamic kingdom, including continuing discrimination against women and strict religious restrictions on daily activities. Initially available only on YouTube, “Masameer” was so popular that it attracted interest from Netflix, with whom Mr. Muzaini signed a five-year production deal in 2020. Though his shows were often daring by Saudi standards, the regime seemed to tolerate it. Mr. Muzaini even appeared on Saudi state television discussing the film industry; there was a “Masameer Experience” ride at a Saudi theme park.

However, on June 26, Mr. Muzaini announced that he was being prosecuted by a secretive Saudi court in a case that authorities apparently set in motion in July 2021, shortly after “Masameer” first appeared via Netflix. He faces charges that he and his company had “sponsored and supported terrorism and homosexuality,” and that the language used in the animated comedy series included slurs and “insults,” according to the human rights group ALQST. Additional charges against Mr. Muzaini stemmed from social media posts dating back more than a decade. In a video he posted on social media — then deleted the same day — the cartoonist said the Specialized Criminal Court convicted him and initially sentenced him to 13 years in prison plus a 13-year travel ban. He appealed, but judges increased the sentence to include a 30-year travel ban. He said he is waiting for the Supreme Court to give a final ruling on the case and pleaded for MBS to intervene on his behalf. The SCC was originally set up to pursue terrorism cases, but the kingdom increasingly uses it to impose heavy sentences on people who speak out against the crown prince.

Mr. Muzaini said he has shut down his production company, Myrkott, which had more than 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube and millions of views of its many cartoon episodes going back to 2011. A father of three born in Texas, Mr. Muzaini said, “I might bear the consequences of what happens after this, and I’m ready.” He then posted positive messages about the crown prince and edited his X profile to read “A proud Saudi” instead of “A proud Saudi-American.”

Other Saudi creatives face pressure, too. In January, authorities arrested Hatem al-Najjar, host of the popular podcast “Muraba,” or Square, on the Thmanyah channel, along with others involved in its production. This followed a social media campaign by pro-government activists using the hashtag “Arrest_Hatem_Alnajjar” over an episode of his podcast to which conservatives objected. Despite posting an online apology, he remains in detention. Similarly, in 2023, Saudi courts sentenced social media influencer Mansour al-Raqiba to 27 years in prison over a video in which he criticized Vision 2030, the MBS plan for diversifying the Saudi economy, according to ALQST. The Guardian has reported that the authorities arrested him in May 2022 in connection with social media posts in which he acknowledged having been blackmailed by an individual who claimed they heard him criticizing the economic plan.

These human rights violations come on top of such punishments as the 27-year sentence meted out to Salma al-Shehab, a dental hygienist and mother of two young children; she lives abroad but Saudi authorities arrested her in 2021 while she was visiting. Her offense: having posted support for women rights activists on social media. Manahel al-Otaibi, a 29-year-old fitness instructor and women’s rights activist, has been sentenced to 11 years because of her choice of clothing and support for women’s rights.

MBS says he wants a dynamic, innovative Saudi Arabia. It’s hard to see how that can happen as long as dynamic, innovative Saudis — people such as Abdulaziz al-Muzaini — face arbitrary persecution. By repressing them, the crown prince has shown that unchallenged power, and not national progress, is his true priority.