Hulu to accept political issue ads after backlash from Democrats

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.

The decision comes after Democratic leaders this week slammed the streaming service for not allowing political advertising on key issues including abortion and guns ahead of the 2022 midterms.

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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.

For now, Disney's streaming service Disney+ doesn't have any advertising. But the company plans to introduce an ad-supported tier to Disney+ this year, and when it does, alcohol and political advertising won't be allowed.