Disney to allow political issue ads on Hulu after outcry

Disney said it will allow ads related to political issues on its Hulu streaming service after an outcry from Democrats and subscribers.

In a statement emailed to Paste BN, Disney said after a "thorough review," it is aligning Hulu’s political advertising policies to follow the company's entertainment and sports cable networks and ESPN+.

"Hulu will now accept candidate and issue advertisements covering a wide spectrum of policy positions, but reserves the right to request edits or alternative creative, in alignment with industry standards," Disney said in its statement.

The shift follows a report from The Washington Post that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Committee and the Democratic Governors Association tried to purchase ads on abortion and gun control that didn't run on Hulu.

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Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Suraj Patel, who is running for Congress in New York, claimed Hulu wanted him to remove footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and the term "climate change" from an ad deemed "sensitive."

"For Democrats nationally, there are wide reaching implications to not being able to air mobilization messages on issues that younger people care about on the networks they watch – issues like guns, climate, democracy and abortion," said Patel in a series of tweets on July 13.

The reports spawned multiple hashtags including #BoycottHulu urging the streaming service to allow such ads related to political issues.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.