Netflix has a experienced its first quarterly loss of paid subscribers in the United States in eight years at the same as as the company is actively opposing pro-life legislation in Georgia.
The video streaming giant has reported a loss of 126,000 domestic paid subscribers compared with their analysts projections of a 352,000 gain.
The Netflix global subscriber growth also fell short of projections by over 2 million.
The dip in subscriptions came during the same quarter as Netflix’s decision to take a stance against Georgia’s pro-life “heartbeat bill.”
In May, the state of Georgia passed a Bill set to come into effect in January 2020, which will restrict abortion after a foetal heartbeat can be detected. At the time, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s chief content officer, stated that Netflix will be “work[ing] with the ACLU and others to fight [the Heartbeat Bill] in court.”
It is understood that media companies have been operating in Georgia due to the tax incentives offered by the state. Disney has also threatened to boycott Georgia should its pro-life laws come into effect.
Not wanting to fund a company sponsoring a pro-abortion effort to prevent a pro-life law coming into effect, pro-life groups and individuals responded by unsubscribing from Netflix and organising a boycott of their services. Right To Life UK, also encouraged users to boycott Netflix in protest to its abortion activism with almost 10,000 people signing their name and committing to cancel their Netflix subscription.
However, Netflix itself has blamed price increases for its quarterly slump which saw its shares plunge by 10.3% last Thursday (25/07).
Netflix is not alone in its abortion advocacy. Recently, Galaxy have also been found to be sponsoring pro-abortion content online. The Galaxy advert read “Choose Pleasure” alongside an associated article “What Actually Happens When You Have An Abortion?”
Clare McCarthy from Right to Life UK said:
“It is not possible to prove that this slump was the direct consequence of Netflix’s pro-abortion advocacy which, in turn, led to a large number of pro-life users boycotting their service. It is nevertheless a boost for pro-lifers to see the company’s profits suffering in this way, and many pro-lifers will interpret this as an effect of their action.”
“Netflix is not alone among companies attempting to cash in on abortion advocacy but hopefully this slump will prove that it is bad for business. Pro-lifers will continue to send a clear message that so long as these companies continue to attempt to block efforts to save lives, pro-life users will and should continue to boycott their services.”
