Director Greta Gerwig’s highly awaited film Barbie has been banned in Vietnam according to Variety. 

The source states that there is a scene in the film that involves a map with the “nine dash line”. They go on to say that this map represents “China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Vietnam says violates its sovereignty”. 

Variety quotes a Vietnam newspaper Tuoi Tre, which cites the director of the Vietnam Cinema Department Vi Kien Thanh, stating, “We do not grant license for the American movie Barbie to release in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line.”

This is not the first time a movie has been banned in Vietnam for this reason. In 2019, Abominable, an animated film by Dreamworks was banned due to the nine-dash map. Additionally, it’s been noted that the series Put Your Head On My Shoulder and Madam Secretary were both asked to delete scenes that included this specific map. 

The ban for Barbie, as said by Variety, was inflicted by the National Film Evaluation Council. The film will not be commercially screened in Vietnam. 

Barbie, which stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling is set to release on July 21, 2023. The newest trailer for the film can be seen here.