The “Barbie” movie was pulled from theaters in Algeria this week, almost one month after its release in the North African country, The Associated Press reported.
Online news outlet 24H Algerie said Algeria’s Ministry of Culture and Arts notified cinemas in Algiers, Oran and Constantine to “immediately” pull the movie.
No reason was provided for the decision to pull the movie, which opened in some Algerian cinemas last month.
Algeria’s move comes after authorities in Kuwait and Lebanon banned the live action movie, based on the American fashion dolls, for allegedly threatening conservative values, according to AP.
This is not the first time that Barbie has made headlines in the Muslim world. In 2012, Iran banned Barbie dolls as well as the accessories with which they come, as part of the country's response to tightened sanctions against it by Western nations.
In 2017, US-based Mattell, which produces the dolls, unveiled its first hijab-wearing Barbie.
The doll honored American Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who made history at the Rio Olympics as the first US Olympian to represent her country wearing a hijab.