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‘Despacito’ Banned In Malaysia: Most Streamed Hit Won’t Be Playing

By Kim Hill
Published on: 07:59 PST, Jul 20, 2017

While most every other place in the world is enjoying the runaway hit song “Despacito,” according to CNN, the government of Malaysia has deemed the song to be filled with lyrics that are not appropriate for the public due to sexual references. Communications Minister Salleh Said Keruak claimed that he had multiple complaints about the song from the public and made a judgment call that does not allow it to be played.

Despacito will not be aired by the government-owned broadcast stations because we received public complaints. The lyrics are not suitable to be heard.

Fortunately for those in Malaysia who wish to listen to the song, the ban does not apply to radio stations and television stations that determine their own guidelines. Instead, the public broadcaster is where the ban is in effect. According to the BBC, Malaysia’s opposition Islamic party, Parti Amanah Negara, had already urged the song to be removed due to its sexual content and Chairwoman of the party’s women’s wing, Atriza Umar stated that it is a detriment to society and described it as pornographic.

“Despacito” by Puerto Rican artist Luis Fonsi has a collaboration that featured Daddy Yankee, the Puerto Rican rapper. Its popularity reached even bigger heights after Justin Bieber appeared in the song in April to create a remix.

This isn’t the first time Malaysian officials have deemed entertainment of any kind too inappropriate for the public. Even after Malaysia’s Film Censorship Board cut a scene that featured a homosexual character, the popular movie Beauty and the Beast was removed from their listings. Other movies such as Jaws, Pulp Fiction, Noah, and Paranormal Activity were not allowed to be shown in the country.

As far as music, Malaysia has a history of banning songs dating back many years. Hits by artists such as Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Linkin Park, Madonna, and Rihanna have all faced censorship for a variety of reasons. For instance, songs with vulgar words, sexual references, alcohol or tobacco references, or videos with what they consider to be inappropriate scenes are either censored and released or banned outright. The popular song “The Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga was removed due to coarse language and strong violence.

With “Despacito” being in Spanish, most of the listeners in Malaysia won’t even realize what is being said and simply like the song due to the beat. However, it doesn’t matter when it comes to the Malaysian officials. Astro Radio is the country’s broadcaster that controls the stations that play popular hits such as MixFM and Hitz-FM. All of these stations have their content delayed for an hour so that they may censor anything deemed inappropriate.

Regardless of Malaysia’s stance on the song, it is popular all over the world and has broken records for being the most streamed.

[Featured Image by Sergi Alexander/Getty Images]

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