Elon Musk, the multibillionaire and self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has focused his attention in recent days on a campaign against Netflix, calling on his followers to cancel their subscriptions in protest. He claims that the company is promoting a “smart agenda” and is including LGBTQ+ characters in children’s content. Musk, the world’s richest person with an estimated net worth of around $500 billion, has repeatedly called on his 227 million followers on the X platform, which he controls, to abandon Netflix. In the past three days alone, he has posted or reposted at least 26 calls for subscription cancellations in protest of the company’s content.
Musk's "campaign" against Netflix began on Tuesday, when he reposted a video from the well-known right-wing account Libs of TikTok, which showed a scene from the animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park, where the character Barney declares that he is transgender. Accompanying the clip, Musk wrote: "this is not okay." Libs of TikTok activists criticized the fact that the series, rated TV-Y7 by Netflix, therefore suitable for ages 7 and up, contained pro-transgender messages.
Paranormal Park premiered in 2022 with 20 episodes, but was canceled the following year and is currently no longer promoted by Netflix. However, Musk has used this example as a starting point to accuse the company of "indoctrinating" children.
Transgender actor Zach Barack, who voiced the character Barney, immediately reacted by writing on X:
"You can be afraid of the deceiver all you want, but children and parents have told me that this series saved their lives."
After that, Musk went on to repost hundreds of times messages from other users who claimed to have canceled their subscriptions. “Cancel Netflix for the health of your children,” he posted on Wednesday, attaching a meme depicting the “transgender agenda” as a Trojan horse entering a castle labeled “your children.”
A day later, he responded again by quoting a user who accused Netflix of “not only not hiding transgender propaganda, but actively pushing it towards the public.” Musk accompanied his response with an article on Netflix’s Tudum platform, titled “Celebrate Transgender Visibility Day with These 16 Movies and Shows.”
Musk has also attacked other series like The Baby-Sitters Club and Cocomelon, calling them part of a “propaganda” process. In addition, he has accused Netflix of “anti-white” hiring practices and retweeted unsubstantiated claims, such as that “100% of political donations from Netflix employees in 2024 went to the Democratic Party.”
Following his attacks, Musk commented “Cancel Netflix” on another post by Libs of TikTok, which linked to the company’s 2023 diversity and inclusion report. Musk, who is the father of a transgender daughter – Vivian Wilson – has a strained relationship with her. In 2022, Vivian filed for a legal name and gender change, stating: “I no longer live with my biological father and I do not want to be associated with him in any way shape or form.” Musk later said he “lost his son” and claimed he was “tricked” into allowing gender-affirming care, calling it “a mind virus.”
Netflix, on the other hand, has not publicly responded to Musk's statements. The company is accustomed to facing such reactions from the conservative right. In 2020, the platform faced a wave of cancellations after the release of the film Cuties, although subscriptions returned to normal levels within a few days. In 2021, the company came to the defense of comedian Dave Chappelle, who had made anti-transgender comments in his special The Closer, even causing an employee strike in California. Netflix has also defended freedom of expression on other occasions, commissioning specials from right-wing figures such as Tony Hinchcliffe, despite controversy over his racist statements against Puerto Rico.
