Members of the senate, and representatives for Netflix and Warner Brothers met February 3 to discuss the companies’ merger. Most expressed their hesitation with the streaming platforms because of the massive monopoly and economic power it would gain, but Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) had another question for Co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
The two went back and forth on the concerns of “highly sexualized, highly controversial” trans content on Netflix. Hawley claimed that “almost half” of the streaming platform “promotes transgender ideology.” He called the content a “disservice to the parents of this country” and a danger to children’s development.
The senator cited data from The Oversight Project, which was the former investigative arm of the Heritage Foundation. The study claimed that “progressive political content outnumbered” conservative content by 55 to1.
This statistic alarmed the White House and led to a review of Netflix’s LGBTQ+ kids’ content before the merger. The Trump administration claimed that the platform swayed “millions of Americans” into accepting “left-wing ideological dogma.”
Senator Hawley highlighted the amount of children’s programs: ”[They] have a transgender agenda. I can’t let them [my children] watch anything they want on Netflix. I don’t have confidence [in] what’s on your platform.”
“It just seems strange to me.” Hawely continued, “It can’t possibly be a reflection of the population? Is this an advocacy position…ideological?”
Other Republicans like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shared Hawley’s concerns.
Sarandos assured Hawley that “Netflix has no political agenda of any kind” and that the platform’s wide range of content appeals to a variety of people. There are also “state-of-the-art tools for you [Hawley] to manage those choices.” Sarandos reminded Hawely that not everyone shares his beliefs, and that the company’s staff also has children they want to protect.
The senator’s claim that Netflix has an abundance of LGBTQ+ content isn’t entirely incorrect. An analysis by GLAAD found that Netflix leads its competitors in LGBTQ+ content. There are about 375 characters of queer representation. This number increased by 45 from the previous season.
But of those 375, only 29 characters (7.8 percent) are transgender. This number has grown by nine in recent seasons. A majority of LGBTQ+ representation on Netflix are gay men, with 40 percent, and lesbians at 29 percent.
Both statistics from the Oversight Project and GLAAD represent only a small portion of the amount of programming available from the streaming company. In reality, there isn’t enough trans content to justify removing it from the platform. As Sarandos told Hawley, it is up to the parents to monitor what their children watch.