Senator Josh Hawley pressed Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos during a Senate hearing over what he called a growing trend of content for children promoting a transgender ideology. Hawley, a parent of three young children, said that almost half of Netflix’s programming for minors contains storylines or characters reflecting transgender themes, which he argued is “highly controversial” and “highly sexualized.”

“Why is it that so much of Netflix content for children promotes a transgender ideology?” Hawley asked. “I’m talking about minor children now, not teenagers…An enormous amount of your children’s programming has this ideology and agenda. Is this an advocacy position for Netflix? Is this an ideological commitment you have?”

Netflix is pushing transgender ideology on our kids

And they see no issue with it

pic.twitter.com/4vkN2vDarx

— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) February 3, 2026

Hawley cited recent developments abroad and in the U.S., including a New York jury awarding $2 million to a former transitioner who claimed she had been pressured into an ideology that proved harmful, and the U.K. National Health Service’s decision to stop providing gender-affirming care for minors due to risks.

“This is offensive to me as a parent,” Hawley said. “I can’t let my children watch anything they want on Netflix without previewing it first. I do not want them being pushed an agenda about their sexuality or gender identity before I have had the opportunity to discuss it with them. This undermines parents.”

Sarandos responded that Netflix does not have a political agenda and that the platform offers “millions of hours of children’s programming” designed to reflect a “wide variety of stories and programs to meet a wide variety of people’s tastes.” He added that Netflix provides tools for parents to control what their children watch, including filtering content by age or topic.

“Senator, if I may answer—like I said, we have state-of-the-art tools for you to manage those choices for your children and to block any title that you might be offended by for any reason,” Sarandos said. “We are parents at Netflix as well. We share your concerns about raising kids and the ability to raise them as you see fit.”

Hawley pressed further, questioning whether Sarandos shared the values of American parents. “My concern is that you don’t 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. I think we ought to be concerned about what content you’re promoting,” Hawley said.

The exchange highlights ongoing debates over children’s media, parental rights, and the role of large streaming platforms in shaping cultural narratives around gender identity and sexual orientation.