Netflix has been ordered to stop airing the programme portraying Jesus as a gay man from their streaming service in Brazil.
A Rio-based Catholic organisation brought the case arguing ‘The First Temptation of Christ’, which shows Jesus introducing his implied boyfriend to his family, hurt the ‘honour’ of millions of Catholics.
Two million people signed a petition to have the show, produced as a Christmas special, removed after it was uploaded.
Netflix has said it will not comment on the judgement.
Judge Benedicto Abicair, ruling in Rio de Janeiro, said the programme’s censorship will be ‘beneficial’ to the Christian community and Brazilian society.
‘The right to freedom of expression … is not absolute,’ he said. ‘I understand, yes, that there must be reflection so that excesses do not occur, avoiding nefarious consequences for many, due to eventual foolishness by a few.
‘Exhibiting the ‘artistic production’ … may cause graver and more irreparable damage than its suspension.’
The decision has been condemned as censorship by The Order of Attorneys of Brazil, the Brazilian Bar Association.
‘Any form of censorship or threat to this hard-won freedom means a setback, and cannot be accepted by society,’ Felipe Santa Cruz, the Order’s president, said in a statement.
The injunction is valid until the merits of the lawsuit are determined.
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