'#CancelNetflix': Twitter users boast about ditching Netflix subscriptions amid password-sharing backlash
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- The hashtag "CancelNetflix" is picking up steam, following Netflix's password-sharing clampdown.
- Twitter users have been posting screenshots of their canceled subscriptions with the hashtag.
- One Twitter user accused the company of being "anti-family" and said they had closed their account.
The hashtag "CancelNetflix" is picking up steam on Twitter amid Netflix's password-sharing clampdown in the US.
Users have been taking to the platform to vent over the streaming giant's plans to charge an $8 fee for additional users outside a primary household. Several users have been posting screenshots of their canceled subscriptions under the hashtag.
"It's been a good almost 23 years @netflix. I've paid you enough. #CancelNetflix," one user said, posting a picture of an account that appeared to have been open since 2000.
Another user accused the company of being "anti-family" in a tweet that accompanied a screenshot of a canceled Netflix account.
Although Netflix has been proposing a stricter policy around password sharing for some time, the company previously told shareholders that it planned to start rolling out paid account sharing this year. Netflix first hinted at the crackdown in July after it suffered its first subscriber loss in over a decade.
Several commentators criticized Netflix after the news first broke.
"I'm genuinely considering canceling my subscription," journalist Erin Biba said in a February tweet, which amassed almost 50,000 likes.
"What am I paying for at this point @netflix? Old content that I can get elsewhere, original shows I can't rely on to progress beyond one season, and making access to the service as complicated and inconvenient as possible? What's your value?" Biba wrote in a follow-up tweet.
"This may have worked when Netflix was the only game in town, but they're not," blogger and content creator Imani Barbarin tweeted. "They have not instilled the brand loyalty necessary to justify this level of audacity."
Shannon Freshour, a politician in Ohio, wrote in a tweet directed at the streaming giant: "You're by far the most expensive streaming service w/o the value matching it. Sort your mess."
Insider previously reported that, as of April 2022, Netflix was the most expensive streaming site and that Apple TV+ was the cheapest.
Data suggests Netflix may see user numbers drop because of the new policy. A survey from US firm Jefferies found that 62% of password borrowers said they would stop using the streaming service rather than purchase an account. The survey found that only 10% of users would create their own ad-free account.
In an earnings call in January, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said the company was expecting to see "a bit of a cancel reaction" to the policy.