‘CENSORSHIP’

Dems Fume as Hulu Refuses to Stream Ads on Abortion, Guns, and Jan. 6

The streaming service has a policy against running advertisements about controversial topics.

Hulu, the Disney-backed streaming service, will not run political ads related to abortion, guns, and the Jan. 6 riot, all of which are crucial to Democrats’ midterm election messaging. Party leaders are, as The Washington Post reported, irate. The streaming service has a relatively opaque policy about its advertising guidelines, though it says that it does not run controversial content. Unlike television networks, Hulu is not limited by the 1934 Communications Act, which demands that broadcast networks give politicians the same level of access to airwaves. “Hulu’s censorship of the truth is outrageous, offensive, and another step down a dangerous path for our country,” executive directors of three Democratic committees said in a statement. The committees had tried to purchase joint ads on abortion and guns with Hulu, which never ran. Individual candidates, too, have had advertisements rejected for content deemed too inflammatory.