Hulu Reportedly Rejecting Democratic Political Ads for Mentioning ‘Sensitive’ Topics Like Abortion, Gun Violence, Climate Change

Hulu is reportedly censoring and/or straight-up rejecting political ads that address some of the issues most important to the Democratic party and its voters, including gun violence, abortion, and climate change.

Suraj Patel is a progressive candidate running to unseat longtime New York Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler. According to a letter Patel wrote to the presidents of Hulu and Disney (which owns the streaming platform), one of his campaign ads, which “addresses a number of the most important issues facing our country: abortion, guns, climate change, and the January 6th insurrection,” was rejected by Hulu. He says representatives cited an “unwritten Hulu policy,” and told him that mentioning those topics was considered too “sensitive.”

Obviously, Patel took issue with this demand that he censor his ad. His letter (which was reported on by Jezebel) reads:

To not discuss these topics in my campaign ad is to not address the most important issues facing the United States. A democracy only functions with open debate, shared facts and an informed electorate. We are at an absolutely critical time in our nation’s history. How are voters supposed to make informed choices if their candidates cannot talk about the most important issues of the day? The issues of abortion, guns, climate change, and our democracy are not topics to be discussed in quite hushed speech outside of the reach of the electorate. These are topics the American people expect to hear from their leaders, and they are issues that are going to define the next several decades. Americans deserve to know their leaders stand on them.

Patel isn’t the only Democrat to have seen similar rejections or demands for adjustments. According to the Washington Post, “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association tried to purchase joint ads on abortion and guns with Hulu on July 15, along with identical placements on a Disney-affiliated ABC affiliate in Philadelphia and the company’s cable sports channel ESPN. The Hulu ads never ran, while the others did.”

But for progressive candidates like Patel, who are specifically trying to get the attention of young voters, access to streaming sites is infinitely more important than cable channels.

The Post also notes that streaming platforms like Hulu aren’t bound by the Communications Act of 1934, which requires television networks to provide equal air time to opposing politicians. As far as I can tell, there are no reports of Republican candidates’ ads being rejected under these “unwritten” policies.

Only after the Washington Post ran its story about the censorship was Patel was told his ad would be able to air as-is. If Disney is trying to get itself out of the political hole it’s dug for itself in recent months, this is not a great way to go about it.

(via Jezebel, Washington Post, image: screencap)