Claim Netflix lost subscribers over co-founder’s campaign donation originated on satire site

Reed Hastings, co-founder of Netflix, donated $7 million to a super PAC supporting Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. 

But claims that Netflix lost millions of subscribers as a result originated on a self-described satire page.

"Netflix loses 6 million subscribers within hours of donation announcement: ‘The people have spoken,’" text in an image featuring Harris said in a July 26 Facebook post.

The misspelled caption said, "NETFLIX Lost 6 million subscribes within HOURS of political donation $$$$$ to Kamal Harris' platform."

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

The image originated on the Facebook page of America’s Last Line of Defense. The account was created by Christopher Blair, who has said its posts are satire intended to mock conservatives, The New York Times recently reported.

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Instagram posts

stated on November 25, 2024 in an Instagram post

"Half of all Ukrainian aid was laundered and sent back to Democrat candidates for re-election."

The account’s Facebook page is labeled satire/parody and says: "Nothing on this page is real."

Netflix chairman Hastings is a longtime critic of former President Donald Trump, saying in 2016 — when he supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign — that Trump "would destroy much of what is great about America." 

The New York Times reported that he was "one of the biggest Democratic donors" to call for President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 contest. On July 22, Hastings cheered Harris’ candidacy on X.

Netflix has a political action committee and can use it to donate to candidates, but Federal Election Commission filings show it last contributed money to a candidate in 2018, when it donated $5,000 to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s California gubernatorial campaign. 

We found no evidence to support the claim that Netflix has lost 6 million subscribers as a result of Hasting’s donation. As of April, the company has nearly 270 million subscribers worldwide.

We rate this post False.