Billionaire Elon Musk has called on his millions of followers on social media platform X to cancel their subscriptions to Netflix because some of the children’s cartoons on the platform include characters who are transgender.
Musk has authored a series of posts over the last 48 hours calling on people to cancel their subscriptions, while resharing posts from right-wing influencers who are calling for several shows to be taken off the platform.
Concern has been raised about an episode of The Baby-Sitter’s Club which includes a scene where there’s pushback against misgendering a child in a hospital.
The animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park is also being attacked as it has a person who is transgender and its main character. While people are also calling for the show Cocomelon to be removed as it has a scene where gay parents sing to their child “Just be you” and allow them to play dress-ups with clothes traditionally associated with both male and female genders.
The campaign targeting the streaming service is also being pushed by the social media accounts Libs of TikTok, the collective of accounts operated by Chaya Raichik.
Libs of TikTok usually reposts content created by people with left-wing views and then mocks their statements. It’s posts are regularly mined by Sky News Australia for content on it’s ‘Sky After Dark’ programs. The account is influential among right-wing pundits and it’s content has previously been labeled hate speech.
They have called for people to cancel their subscriptions over Monster High: The Movie which includes Frankie, a non-binary character. The film Strawberry Shortcake and the Beast of Berry Bog is also in their sights because it has a male character who dresses in a skirt for a festive dress-up.
Transformers Earthspark is also listed as it includes a reference to non-binary people, and one of the robots in the show decides that they/them pronouns work for them too. Gecko’s Garage is also targeted because in one episode the characters visit a Pride parade, while Ada Twist, Scientist is listed for an episode where school children attend a teacher’s same-sex wedding.
The animated Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous is highlighted for including a same-sex couple, while Ridley Jones is declared offensive material for having a transgender cow.
The campaign is not limited to children’s shows, they’re also complaining about the comedy special Hannah Gadsby’s Gender Agenda. The acclaimed Australian documentary The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone is also labeled inappropriate.
The campaign against Netflix appears to have been sparked by outrage over a post allegedly made by Hamish Steele, the creator of Dead End: Paranormal Park. Steele is accused of criticising British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer mourning the death of conservative American influencer Charlie Kirk.
Netflix faced a backlash last month because Reed Hastings, one of the co-founders of the streaming giant, donated $2million dollars to Democrat California Governor Gavin Newsome.
