Netflix Password Sharing Ban

Overview

Netflix Password Sharing Ban or Netflix Account Sharing Crackdown refers to a decision made by the streaming platform Netflix to forbid the sharing of passwords for one account across multiple devices and between various people. Previously, several different individuals could share the same Netflix account, even if they did not live together or known one another. In late 2022 after difficult financial quarters, Netflix announced that it would begin implementing restrictions on the practice of account sharing, with the company then rolling out new rules to crack down on the practice in early 2023 and instituting new restrictions about how, where and by whom an account could be accessed. These new rules inspired widespread backlash, controversy and memes protesting the change and mourning the old days of password sharing.

Background

Password sharing was originally a key part of Netflix's pitch: by letting accounts pay by the screen and device, wherever those screens were, the company marketed its services to families that were spread out across the world. Netflix also enjoyed the pop-cultural clout of password sharing: people joked about keeping the passwords of their exes after the ends of relationships or using a password from a distant acquaintance they hardly knew.^[1] In a 2017 tweet, Netflix itself seemed to reference this well-known custom (seen below).^[6]

Developments

In 2022, Netflix concluded that "widespread account sharing (100M+ households) undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve Netflix, as well as build our business."^[2] Then, in a February 1st, 2023, decision, Netflix decided to put in place a new requirement: In order to stay connected to an account, a device had to verify it was in a "Netflix household." However, the means of this verification were unclear to many. In late January 2023, a since-deleted Netflix post said that devices had to log in from that account's home WiFi network at least once every 31 days, but as of February 2nd, the approach seemed to be a form of two-factor authentication using the home WiFi instead of device tracking.^[5]

Online Reactions

The news caused a series of different reactions, largely negative. Some posters took the Netflix decision as evidence of capitalism's evils and criticized the company along those lines. For example, Twitter user @comicsexplained reposted a Reddit comment criticizing Netflix on February 1st, 2023, earning over 1,500 likes in one day (seen below, left).^[3] Twitter user @bugsmaytrix (seen below, right) criticized the business decision as alienating Netflix's user base, earning over a quarter of a million likes in a day, also on February 1st.^[4]

Other posters brought up the now-infamous 2017 tweet by Netflix, which declared that "Love is sharing a Netflix password."^[6] For example Twitter user @stovepost, in a January 31st, 2023, tweet, referenced the Netflix tweet and mocked it, receiving almost 1,300 likes in one day (seen below).^[7]

As the controversy surrounding the decision continued to spread online, many analyzed the news by saying that Netflix's latest policy meant that the platform had run out of ideas and failed to understand its audience. For example, TikToker christopherclaflin shared a video on February 2nd, which received almost 17,000 likes, criticizing the company.^[8]

Many social media users also posted and made memes about turning to other options to watch their favorite content. In particular, some advocated for piracy (shown below, left) or stated that they would cancel their subscriptions, ditching Netflix for other streaming services. For example, Twitter user @BretterTogether shared a meme about embracing other streaming services on February 1st, earning almost 2,000 likes in one day (shown below, right).^[9]

External References