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During a heated Senate hearing Tuesday on Netflix’s proposed deal with Warner Bros. Entertainment, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., pressed the streaming platform’s CEO on a recent statistic from a conservative women’s policy organization arguing nearly half of Netflix’s content for kids “promotes transgender ideology.”
Hawley cited his own experience as a parent of young kids, pointing out he does not let them “watch anything” on Netflix unless he previews it first because he does not “have confidence of what is on [Netflix’s] platform,” the GOP senator told Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos.
But Sarandos clapped back at Halwey’s claim, arguing that data point that “almost half” of Netflix’s children’s programming promotes trangenderism was “inaccurate.”
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“Senator, Netflix has no political agenda of any kind,” Sarados told the GOP senator Tuesday.
“Well, then why is your children’s programming so full of this highly sexualized, highly controversial – highly controversial – agenda? I don’t understand it. It seems strange to me,” Hawley shot back before Srandos could finish.
“Respectfully, sir, it’s because it’s inaccurate. We have millions of hours of children’s programming. I –,” the Netflix CEO continued saying before the GOP senator cut him off again.
“You don’t have a trans – you don’t feature trans characters, trans storylines, trans themes? It’s not in your programming?” Hawley shot back.
“I’m saying we feature a wide variety of stories and programs that meet a wide variety of people’s tastes,” Sarandos clarified.
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But Hawley kept drilling in that nearly half of Netflix’s content for kids promotes transgender ideology, a statistic first shared by the conservative women’s public policy group known as Concerned Women for America (CWA).
CWA released a report in December, claiming they found that 41% of G-rated series on Netflix and 41% of TV-Y7 rated shows on Netflix contain content that can be construed as pro-LGBTQ+.
In defense of Hawley’s accusations, Sarandos highlighted that the platform has built out “state-of-the-art tools” for parents to manage their video streaming choices for their children. He added that folks at Netflix were parents too, and shared the “same concerns about raising kids” that Hawley has.
The research released by CWA on Netflix’s pro-trans content came just a few days after Netflix announced an agreement to acquire Warner Bros. film and television studios, as well as HBO and HBO Max, which would make the streaming platform one of the most dominant in the world.
While the deal has been announced, it still must undergo regulatory scrutiny. Other companies have also submitted rival offers aimed at undercutting Netflix’s ambitions.
“You want the United States government to allow you to become one of the largest – if not the largest – streaming monopolist in the world,” Hawley highlighted to Sarandos during the Tuesday hearing. “I think we ought to be concerned about what content you’re promoting.”
