(Credits: Thibault Penin)

It is no secret that the subscriber base of Netflix has taken a hit recently. The reasons for this drop in subscriber count are, of course, myriad, with the implementation of tiered subscriptions and a crack down on password sharing being predominant factors. However, statistics suggest that the political views of the company’s co-founder, Reed Hastings, are also a contribution factor. 

Back in July, 2024, Hastings – who has been an outspoken advocate of the Democratic Party of the United States for many years – publicly endorsed Kamala Harris in the presidential race. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Hastings posted, “Congrats to Kamala Harris – now it is time to win”, on July 23rd, days after President Joe Biden stepped down from the election campaign. 

Immediately, the Netflix co-founder received a wealth of backlash from conservative commentators and supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump. Some of the top replies to that initial post on X include, “Just cancelled Netflix…this was the final straw…too woke and clearly anti American,” as well as, “You do you, but I cannot be a customer and have my money supporting someone as corrupt and antichristian as her,” and “Canceled Wokeflix today.”

Netflix, which has around 84 million subscribers in the US alone, witnessed a steep decline in users following Hastings’ endorsement of Harris, particularly after it was revealed that the co-founder had made a substantial donation to the Harris presidential campaign. In the days after Hastings’ social media posts, Netflix reportedly saw a cancellation rate of 2.8 per cent – or roughly two million users.

While subscriber counts were largely on the decline anyway, the link between Hastings’ endorsement and a sudden drop off in users is difficult to ignore. Previously, the streaming service has attempted to distance itself from the political views of its co-founder, in an attempt not to alienate certain factions of its user base.

According to reports, July 26 has been the worst day for Netflix cancellations this year, so it is probable that Hastings’ outspoken support of the Harris campaign just days prior had a significant impact on those figures. However, it has also been noted that users are leaving the platform after Netflix introduced a tiered subscription model, whereby low tier users have to watch shows on Netflix with advertisements.

This choice to introduce advertisements to the platform, in addition to the recent crackdown on password sharing, show that Netflix have abandoned many of their earlier principles in an effort to keep the business afloat and generating a maximum amount of revenue.