Greek television executives have cut out kiss between two men from an episode of the popular British drama series "Downton Abbey," according to the BBC.
Greek state television channel NET cited parental guidance viewing rules as a reason for cutting out the kiss between a visiting Duke and Downton's footman, Thomas which was aired at 10 p.m. local time Monday (Oct. 15). In retaliation, many Greeks took to social networking sites to complain that NET had succumbed to political and religious pressure.
Dimitris Papadimoulis, from the main Greek opposition party Syriza, says NET may have caved in to a request from the far-right Golden Dawn party or religious authorities.
"As incredible as it may seem for a democratic country in the 21st century, officials of the NET television channel censored the scene of a kiss between men from the TV drama Downton Abbey. This is of course an obvious case of censorship, an extreme act of homophobia and discrimination which unfortunately, after what has been happening recently, we cannot characterize as unprecedented," said Papadimoulis.
The network responded saying that it wasn't an act of censorship.
"The love affair between the two men... was not censored," said Costas Spyropoulos, managing director of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, in a statement. "The kiss was not shown because of the time the program was broadcast and the corresponding parental guidance warnings."
The network planned to air the full episode, unedited, at a later time on Tuesday.
