Hulu caves to Democrats after initially rejecting ads on gun control, abortion: 'Hulu will now accept'



Hulu has caved.

The Disney-owned video streaming platform has reversed its policy barring political advertisements from its platform after Democrats accused the company of "censorship" for not running far-left political ads.

What did Hulu say?

In alignment with advertisement policies on other Disney-owned platforms, Hulu said it will now allow controversial political ads.

"After a thorough review of ad policies across its linear networks and streaming platforms over the last few months, Disney is now aligning Hulu’s political advertising policies to be consistent with the Company’s general entertainment and sports cable networks and ESPN+," Disney said in a statement, Axios reported.

"Hulu 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," the statement added.

Previously, Hulu's advertisement policies stated, "Hulu does not accept issue, electoral, or political Ads through the Ad Manager Tool."

What is the background?

Democrats lashed out at Hulu on Monday after an election ad — which promoted the liberal agenda on gun control, abortion, and climate change — was rejected from airing on Hulu.

The platform allegedly utilized an "unwritten" policy that barred "sensitive" ads from its airwaves.

In response, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association — which had attempted to purchase joint ad space — accused Hulu of "censorship."

Hulu’s censorship of the truth is outrageous, offensive, and another step down a dangerous path for our country. Voters have the right to know the facts about MAGA Republicans' agenda on issues like abortion — and Hulu is doing a huge disservice to the American people by blocking voters from learning the truth about the GOP record or denying these issues from even being discussed.

Democrats outraged because Hulu refused to air their far-left ads: 'Another step down a dangerous path for our country'



Video streaming platform Hulu provoked outrage from Democrats after refusing to run political advertisements promoting the liberal agenda.

What are the details?

Earlier this month, three Democratic Party campaign organizations — the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Democratic Governors Association — tried to purchase an ad campaign on Hulu, the Washington Post reported.

The video ads promoted the Democratic Party's position on gun control, abortion, and climate change.

But those advertisements never ran, provoking fury from Democrats. The organizations, in fact, accused Hulu of "censorship."

"Hulu’s censorship of the truth is outrageous, offensive, and another step down a dangerous path for our country," said the executive directors of the three organizations in a statement to the Washington Post.

"Voters have the right to know the facts about MAGA Republicans' agenda on issues like abortion — and Hulu is doing a huge disservice to the American people by blocking voters from learning the truth about the GOP record or denying these issues from even being discussed," the statement added.

According to Suraj Patel, a Democrat running for Congress in New York, a Hulu representative told his campaign the streaming platform utilizes an "unwritten" policy that prohibits "sensitive" advertisements.

This was after Hulu rejected airing one of his advertisements, which also focused on gun control, abortion, and climate change. The decision was later reversed.

More from the Washington Post:

A person familiar with Hulu’s policies, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about internal matters, said the decision to approve Patel’s ad had been made before Monday, though it was not immediately communicated to his campaign. This person said that the company does not publicly disclose its advertising guidelines but that they prohibit advertising that takes a position on a controversial issue, regardless of whether it is a political ad. The ads are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, with edits sometimes recommended to the advertisers.

Indeed, Hulu's advertisement policies clearly state, "Hulu does not accept issue, electoral, or political Ads through the Ad Manager Tool."

Even though outrage from Democrats may have led some supporters to call for a boycott of Hulu, even some liberals voiced disagreement with the complaints.

"Sorry guys, I’m usually with you but… unless they are running conservative ads and NOT the others, I have no problem with them choosing not to run political ads. This is a bad take," responded a self-identified "liberal."