Hulu to accept political issue ads after backlash from Democrats

(Image credit: Chesnot/Getty Images)

published 27 July 2022

Disney has tweaked the advertising policies for Hulu after being accused of "censorship" by Democrats.

The company on Wednesday said it has decided to accept political issue ads on Hulu following a "thorough review" of its policies, Axios reports.

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"Hulu's censorship of the truth is outrageous, offensive, and another step down a dangerous path for our country," the executive directors of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association told The Washington Post. They told the outlet their ads on abortion and guns were rejected and argued Hulu "is doing a huge disservice to the American people by blocking voters from learning the truth."

The story led Democrats to use the hashtag #BoycottHulu on Twitter. But Disney, which has majority control over Hulu, says it "will now accept candidate and issue advertisements covering a wide spectrum of policy positions, but reserves the right to request edits or alternative creative, in alignment with industry standards." This is the same policy used by Disney on its cable networks. Hulu had already been allowing candidate advertising.

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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