Netflix, the streaming giant that has gotten criticism from Texas political leaders and families over woke content, recently announced its second round of price increases in just over a year. The ad-supported plan rose from $7.99 to $8.99 per month, the standard plan from $17.99 to $19.99, and the premium tier from $24.99 to $26.99. The increases apply to all U.S. subscribers.
The announcement comes as the company continues to navigate years of consumer criticism over its content programming, particularly content marketed to children and families.
In October 2020, a Tyler County grand jury indicted Netflix on charges of promotion of lewd visual material depicting a child, a state jail felony under Texas law. The indictment stemmed from Netflix's decision to promote and distribute the French film "Cuties," which lawmakers and parents across the country, including many in Texas, argued sexualized young girls and exploited child actors.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also took action on the Cuties issue, signing onto a letter to then-CEO Reed Hastings to “vehemently oppose the continued streaming of the movie 'Cuties,’ saying, “this film does immeasurable damage to all of us fighting to keep our children safe.”
Netflix kept the film on its platform. The company issued a limited apology over promotional artwork but made no meaningful changes to its content approach.
The "Cuties" controversy was not an isolated incident. Parents have raised concerns about a pattern of far-left social content woven into shows marketed directly to children on the platform. Among the examples parents have flagged: a cross-dressing boy in "Strawberry Shortcake," a transgender lead character in "Dead End: Paranormal Park," and a nonbinary bison introduced as a central character in "Ridley Jones."
Texas families argue Netflix’s children's content should not include woke and hypersexualized content. Because of this, Netflix has faced numerous calls to boycott by subscribers across the state and country.
Netflix's answer to that backlash is a price increase. Rather than recalibrate its content strategy to win back the audience it lost, the company has opted to pass the cost of its ideological programming decisions onto the subscribers who stayed.
