Cancel Hulu Calls Grow After Disney Stops Democrats Running Political Ads

Calls to boycott Hulu and cancel existing subscriptions to the streaming service have been growing on social media after the network declined to run political ads from Democratic organizations on topics including abortion and gun control.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that on July 15, a group of Democratic campaign organizations tried to buy joint ads discussing abortion and gun control on Hulu, but the ads —which ran on other platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Roku— were rejected by Hulu.

According to the report in the Post, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association, the three Democratic committees looking to place the joint ads, were told that the ads were rejected for “content-related” issues.

Hulu has a policy against running controversial content, and unlike traditional broadcast television networks, it is not bound to provide politicians across the political spectrum equal exposure on its platform.

The content of the ads Hulu refused to run included a video listing statistics regarding gun violence in the U.S. and criticizing Republicans’ resistance to improving gun control legislation in the country. Another ad accused Republicans of trying to “rip away” access to abortions in the U.S. except in case of rape, incest or risk to the life of the pregnant person.

Newsweek has reached out to Hulu for comment.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) wrote on Twitter that the streaming service’s refusal to run Democrats’ ads “calling out GOP attacks on abortion access and gun safety” amounted “to outrageous political censorship.”

“Americans deserve to know the truth about these issues, and Hulu has no right to block it,” the DSCC wrote.

Their appeal was picked up by many outraged Democratic voters and activists who called for people to cancel their Hulu subscriptions in protest.

“Cancel your Hulu subscription until they get the message,” wrote musician April Smith on Twitter. “You won’t miss out on the Handmaid’s Tale because we’re basically living the first season right now.”

Another Twitter user also referenced the Handmaid’s Tale, user smilingoutloud2 said the decision would cause women to speak “with [their] pocketbooks.”

Nick Knudsen, the executive director of DemCast USA, urged people to share the ad in question and to cancel Hulu.

But not everyone shared the same feelings about Hulu’s decision.

Some Twitter users responded to the calls to #BoycottHulu and #CancelHulu saying they had no intention of canceling their subscriptions, as they could get on board with fewer political ads and commercials on streaming platforms.

“#BoycottHulu? More like #ThankYouHulu. I wish *more* places blocked political ads entirely. You’re still content-neutral if you refuse *all* political ads, no matter their content,” one user wrote.

“It’s a streaming service for shows and movies not political gain. Everybody always tries to make things political,” wrote another.

Some are calling to cancel subscriptions to Hulu after the streaming service refused to run Democratic campaign ads. Illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images