Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos faced intense questioning at Tuesday’s Senate antitrust hearing, with Republican Senator Josh Hawley directly accusing the streamer of promoting “transgender ideology” in its children’s programming.
Sarandos Denies Netflix Has Political Agenda
“Why is it that so much of Netflix content for children promotes a transgender ideology?” Hawley asked.
Sarandos responded, “Netflix has no political agenda of any kind.”
When pressed further about what Hawley described as “highly sexualized, highly controversial” content aimed at children, Sarandos said, “That’s inaccurate.”
When the senator claimed that nearly half of Netflix’s children’s programming promotes a transgender agenda, Sarandos replied, “I don’t have any idea where that comes from.”
He defended the platform’s programming: “We have millions of hours of children’s programming… we feature a wide variety of stories and programs to meet a wide variety of people’s taste.”
Sarandos also pointed to “state of the art tools” available to parents to block any content they find objectionable.
He also made a point of stating later in the hearing, “We also value the First Amendment.”
Hearing Follows MAGA-Backed Fedflix Report
The exchange comes just days after the Heritage Foundation spinoff, the Oversight Project, released its “Fedflix” report slamming Netflix for using its influence to shape left-wing ideology.
The report claimed Netflix is “socially engineering millions of Americans” and criticized its ambitions to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.
Oversight Project director Mike Howell warned, “I don’t want Netflix to get bigger at all. I want it to have less influence.”
Additional concerns include theatrical release, residuals, YouTube comparisons
The hearing also saw concerns raised about Netflix’s commitment to a 45-day theatrical window release, which Sarandos again confirmed.
“I just said I would do that under oath,” Sarandos said.
The issue of jobs and residuals was also raised, but Sarandos said it is a “very complicated answer” and deferred it to the upcoming union contract negotiations.
Sarandos also brought up again how Netflix should be viewed as YouTube, so as not to be looked at as a monopoly, but a Senator scoffed at the notion, citing how YouTube is essentially free, while Netflix is a subscription.
(Note: Senate Hearing details come via Deadline and Variety)
