WATCH Ashley Moody Confronts Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos About Cuties

Next. Thank you, Chairman Lee, for holding this hearing, and thank you for our witnesses for being here today. You know, I think when there was an aside comment, like, let me get back to antitrust, as if the concerns that were raised, because we'll have fewer players in this market, is not something that's related to antitrust. Indeed, antitrust laws were created to ensure that there's meaningful competition to protect consumers, correct? Correct. And some of the issues raised by parents, both parents, young children in school, I'm a parent, young child in school, a lot of those concerns came up because more and more and more of the content that was produced or made available through your streaming service had to be screened or vigilantly watched their children as they're watching TV to make sure that they're watching things that were acceptable in their household. You would agree? You're a parent. You would agree? I'm a parent, and I think parents have to be vigilant about everything they watch, anywhere they're watching. So I remember this Cuties documentary, because I was the attorney general in Florida at the time, and a mother of a young child, and immediately raised concerns to your company, who quickly dismissed my concerns, and you say, well, that was rated for adults. That wasn't rated for adults. It was 15 plus, correct? No, ma'am. It was MA. You were indicted by a federal grand jury for that content at one point, right? Or excuse me, a state grand jury in Texas for the content of that? I don't recall. I believe it was 15 plus, and maybe I'm wrong, but in my world, that's not for adults, and we could debate that and use up all my time talking about that, but I think what was being presented to you is there is, in some families, and many families across America, there is highly objectionable content on your streaming platform, but it's becoming a more and more prevalent streaming platform in America. You were confronted with some prior statements that you had made, and you said in response to that, I hope that wouldn't happen again. That's very aspirational. Any parameters that have been put in place or policies that have been put in place to make sure that doesn't happen? I'm sorry, Senator, which one are we speaking of? The numerous statements that were put forth by Netflix. You said, I hope that wouldn't happen again, as if just by a wish and a prayer, it will never happen again, but are there policies in place that would prevent statements like that? There are policies in place. Our social media postings are not a place for politics. Our business intent is to entertain the world. It does not have a political agenda. There are policies in place to make sure. What I'm saying is that these are people who do it. We're here because you're proposing to become even larger, and if there are folks across America that are already struggling with their limited options, you're proposing you become even larger, and I am just saying maybe that shouldn't have been a joke. Let's get back to antitrust. Let's truly talk about whether there are going to be options. In fact, we need to make sure that, indeed, these laws are protecting American consumers as they're meant to, and Chairman Lee's concerns that they're not just a way for government to choose winners by stringing along acquisition, which I saw in the Biden administration happen. Do you think that, and I know you say that this might help with costs, that costs to consumers may go down, or do you believe that you're going to have to put in place some sort of agreements to make sure that the competition remains strong and that consumers are protected in costs? Well, Senator, as I said earlier, this does not present a concentration risk that would require remedies like that. Our prices have gone up slower than all of our competitors, and as I was just saying to Senator Booker, they also offer much more value for the money. Again, I think consumers feel value in what do they get for their money. Am I wrong in the last 10 years, hasn't Netflix costs already doubled? I'm not sure of the math. I do believe that streaming costs across the board have gone up for consumers. Well, the Netflix costs in the last 10 years have doubled, and that outpaces the rate of inflation. We have multiple tiers of service, so I'm not sure that that's true. Are there guardrails that you're proposing that might ensure that this merger doesn't increase prices to consumers? Like I said, we don't believe that this merger represents any concentration risk. We are speaking actively with DOJ right now on the process, and it's still pretty early in that process. Thank you, Chairman. Thanks, Senator Mooney.