Elon Musk blames 'woke mind virus' for Netflix's loss of subscribers; 'Unwatchable'

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, on Wednesday, said that online streaming giant Netflix is becoming 'unwatchable', citing the 'woke mind virus' as the reason for the loss of subscribers. This comes as the online streaming service continues to loose subcribers in the first three months of the year. The remark comes after a quarterly report announced yesterday that the US-based company lost 2,00,000 users between January and March this year. This has led the company's shares to plummet by 25% with a further two million users set to leave by June. 

Reacting to the news, Elon Musk, who is planning a hostile takeover of Twitter, said, "The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable." "Can they please just make sci-fi/fantasy at least *mostly* about sci-fi/fantasy?" he tweeted. 

Netflix lost 2,00,000 users from January to March

According to Fortune India, the company, in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday, said, "Our revenue growth has slowed considerably. Our relatively high household penetration - when including the large number of households sharing accounts - combined with competition, is creating revenue growth headwinds." 

This comes after Russia, in the wake of its invasion in Ukraine, said that it will be suspending Netflix in the country, resulting in a loss of 7,00,000 paid members during the first quarter. The company also revealed tha it would have seen 5,00,000 net additions during the most recent quarter without this impact. 

The report suggests Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings has said that the OTT company is exploring a lower-priced, ad-supported version in order to boost its user base. "Those who have followed Netflix know that I've been against the complexity of advertising, and a big fan of the simplicity of subscription. But, as much as I'm a fan of that, I'm a bigger fan of consumer choice." The streaming service has revealed that it is making good progress in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan, India, the Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan. 

Despite Netflix releasing hit series like Squid Game, Bridgerton, Sex Education, it has also been producing 'woke' contents like He's Expecting, which depicts a man getting pregnant. In an attempt to save itself from drowning, the company has been forced to borrow $16 billion in a decade to cover its productions and business costs, reported Daily Mail. 

Image: AP, Pixabay