PTC Asks President to Order DOJ Investigation of Netflix

LOS ANGELES (September 23, 2020) – The Parents Television Council is asking President Trump to “instruct Attorney General William Barr to open an investigation into Netflix for its pattern of repeatedly and grotesquely sexualizing children for entertainment.”

“Mr. President, more than 30 members of Congress have now spoken out against ‘Cuties,’ and many have called for Congressional hearings or an investigation. But the problem with sexualizing children on Netflix runs deeper than just ‘Cuties.’ There is a strong link between sexualized media and the victimization and exploitation of children, as you are no doubt aware, given that just a few weeks ago, US Marshals rescued 72 missing children who were at risk for abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and given that you recently announced more than $35 in Justice Department grants to aid human trafficking victims. Please instruct your Attorney General to investigate Netflix to protect children from sexualization and exploitation,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

“Cuties,” which Netflix started streaming in September, is only the latest example of a disturbing pattern of behavior. In it, the main character, an 11-year-old girl, is shown pulling her pants and underpants down so she can photograph her genitals. In another scene, Amy attempts to seduce a grown man – a family member, no less -- to get out of trouble for stealing his cell phone. This child actress, in a scene with a grown man, removes her jacket and begins to remove her pants before being pushed away. These girls are shown thrusting their pelvises to simulate sex, and “humping” the floor. But this is not an isolated incident, as evidenced by other programming on Netflix:

• The Netflix original series “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” featured an orgy scene with half a dozen scantily-clad teens.
• Netflix streamed an Argentinian film called “Desire” which included a scene of a nine- or ten-year-old girl self-stimulating to climax.
• Netflix acquired a series called “Baby,” about 16-year-old prostitutes.
• Netflix airs “Sex Education,” which contains explicit depictions of sex and nudity -- including male genitalia – mostly involving high school-aged characters.
• The Netflix original animated series “Big Mouth” is particularly vile in its attempts to sexualize pubescent children. According to the show’s IMDB page, episodes have contained “full screen closeup of a 13-year-old’s penis and testicles; a girl talking to her vagina about her life -- the vulva and clitoris and labia are shown in graphic close up for extended periods of time; a middle-school student’s bare breasts are drawn; two 12-year-old and 2 high schoolers play a game where they face each other in competition to see who can ejaculate on a cracker the fastest.

In a letter to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) last week, the PTC urged Congress to convene hearings on the entertainment industry’s “troubling trend of sexualizing children in its programming.”