TheQuartering [5/25/2023]
Netflix users are not happy following the streaming giant’s decision to roll out its password sharing ban.
Under rules brought to 103 countries including the US and UK this week, people who were watching Netflix under someone else’s account now have to create and pay for their own logins.
Alternatively, those who still want to share an account with people in a different home have to sign up to ‘paid sharing’ at a cost of £4.99/month ($8/month in the US).
The multi-billion dollar firm said it has to ‘invest heavily’ in new content, but users are taking to social media to share their anger – and some are even deleting their accounts.
One person said Netflix is ‘trying to treat us like we’re children’, while another simply tweeted ‘the divorce is final’ with the hashtag ‘Cancel Netflix’.
The ban comes to 103 countries including the UK, the US, France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Mexico and Brazil, having been tested first in Peru, Chile and Costa Rica last year.
Around a quarter of Netflix’s 15million UK subscribers share their password, according to Research firm Digital-i.
One user posted to Twitter: ‘Sorry but us as users should #Boicot Netflix and complain even delete accounts so they don’t force us to this. I pay extra to use 4 device it shouldn’t matter how I used them.’
Another said: ‘I’ll just delete @netflix tbh, the platform isn’t even that good and there’s so many other streaming services. @netflix is about to go the way of blockbuster.’
And one added: ‘Let them delete the account I share with family. I’m willing to bet this backfires on Netflix big time lol.’
People also took to social media to share their anger at being made to shell out more money during a cost of living crisis.
One UK-based user said: ‘Netflix isn’t even that cheap anymore, and the cost of living etc mean subscriptions will be one of the first things to go. Stupid decision.’
Another simply posted: ‘Time to delete Netflix forever f***in scammers.’
One Twitter user retweeted Netflix’s badly aged post from 2017 that said ‘Love is sharing a password’.
He simply said: ‘I think it’s time to delete this @netflix.’