With Disney’s Streaming Success, Attention Must Turn to Improving Hulu’s Parental Controls

Written by PTC | Published August 16, 2021

LOS ANGELES (August 16, 2021) – The Parents Television and Media Council(PTC) called on Disney to improve Disney-owned Hulu’s parental controls, which PTC research has shown are the worst among all the top streaming services.

“Disney+ just reached 116 million subscribers, no doubt because its content is more friendly to families. But with great power, comes great responsibility. Now, Disney must improve Hulu’s parental controls, which our research shows are the worst among all the top streaming services,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

“Hulu’s platform fails to distinguish between content that would be suitable for a 7-year-old versus a 13-year-old. In other words, Hulu allows a 7-year-old child navigating the ‘kid’ profile to access age-inappropriate PG-13 and TV-14-rated content. Hulu also has not added PIN-restrictions or other barriers to prevent a child from switching profiles to view adult content on a parent’s profile.

“Hulu’s programming is certainly more adult than Disney+, making it crucial for improved parental controls. Hulu’s A Teacher normalizes an illicit relationship between a teacher and her student. Hulu’s PEN15 is a suggestively titled ‘teen comedy’ that included a scene of an adolescent girl masturbating in front of a mirror. Hulu also features Harlots, a period drama about a London brothel. Two more questionable series in development for Hulu include Bitches and Punk Ass Bitch.

“We hope Disney prioritizes the safety of children and makes vital changes to its parental controls on Hulu,” Winter concluded.

The PTC report, Dollars and Sense: A Parent’s Guide to Streaming Media, compared both the economic and non-economic impacts associated with the myriad and most popular streaming media platforms.


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