When Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos walked into the Senate office building on Tuesday, he was thrown a curveball. What started as a standard antitrust hearing related to the Warner Bros. merger turned into a demonstrative Republican attack about the spread of “woke” ideology on the streaming service. At the same time, an arguably more influential platform was completely ignored: YouTube.
After questioning Sarandos about the remaining payment, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) launched into an entirely different question: “Why is it that so much of Netflix’s content for children promotes transgender ideology?” Hawley asked, making an unfounded claim that “about half” of the platform’s children’s content contains so-called “transgender ideology.” The statement points to a pressure campaign launched months ago by Elon Musk in which he called on
Sarandos replied, “Our business intention is to entertain the world.” “This is not a political agenda.” Still, other Republican lawmakers, including Senators Ashley Moody (R-FL) and Eric Schmitt (R-MO), lashed out at a post made by Netflix and the French film after the killing of George Floyd. cutieWho fanned the right-wing fire years ago. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) even asked Sarandos what he thought about Billie Eilish’s “No one is illegal on stolen land” comment at the Grammys. It seemed as if they were grasping at straws to support their story that the acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix might somehow poison the audience in terms of content.
“My concern is that you do not share my values or those of many other American parents, and you want the United States government to allow you to become one of the largest – if not the largest – streaming monopolists in the world,” Hawley said. “I think we should be concerned about what content you’re promoting.”
While it’s true that Netflix will control a larger share of the streaming market when — and or if — it acquires Warner Bros. and its streaming service HBO Max, it’s difficult to criticize Netflix without bringing up YouTube.
“YouTube isn’t just cat videos anymore. YouTube is TV.”
For several years now, Netflix has been trying to overtake YouTube as the most watched streaming service. Nielsen data says Netflix’s share of total TV and streaming viewing in the US in December 2025 was 9 percent, while Warner Bros. Discovery’s services accounted for 1.4 percent. Even if both are combined, it cannot be compared to YouTube, which had 12.7 percent share in the number of viewers during that time. “YouTube is no longer just about cat videos,” Sarandos told the subcommittee. “YouTube is TV.”
Unlike Netflix, YouTube is free and has an ever-growing library of user-generated content that does not require it to spend billions of dollars in production costs and licensing fees. YouTube doesn’t have to worry about maintaining subscribers, as anyone with access to a web browser or phone can open and watch YouTube. This setup brings a steady flow of viewers to YouTube, which it can then engage with a wide range of recommended content to watch next.
But not all creators on YouTube are striving for quality. As my colleague Miya Sato has written, YouTube is home to creators who try to feed an algorithm that promotes inflammatory content and attempts to engage viewers, in addition to a range of videos that may be less than ideal for children.
Like it or not, YouTube is the dominant streamer, with an endless supply of potentially offensive agendas for anyone. But for some reason, that’s not the goal of this culture war. If these lawmakers really cared about what their kids are watching, perhaps they would start looking more closely at how YouTube prioritizes content. Or, if they don’t like the shows and movies on Netflix, they can do what Sarandos suggested during the hearing: Unsubscribe.
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