No, Netflix isn’t cracking down on password sharing in the U.S.

UPDATE (02/03/2023): Netflix confronted backlash on social media this week after a assist middle article posted on the firm’s web site unveiled a set of tips for cracking down on password sharing to all world customers, together with the United States. However, the firm now says it mistakenly launched these guidelines. 

“For a brief time yesterday, a help center article containing information that is only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, went live in other countries. We have since updated it,” a Netflix spokesperson advised VERIFY in a press release. 

On Jan. 19, the firm announced that it has plans to sort out password sharing for customers outdoors of Chile, Costa Rica and Peru by March 31, the finish of the first quarter. Netflix hasn’t launched particulars but on the way it will roll out these plans in the U.S. The authentic story stays as printed beneath. 

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Netflix has greater than 221 million subscribers worldwide. That’s greater than every other streaming platform, together with Disney+ and HBO Max. 

Reed Hastings, Netflix’s co-founder and CEO, has long acknowledged that many extra individuals than its 221 million subscribers truly view the streaming service’s content material due to password sharing. In reality, two studies printed throughout the coronavirus pandemic estimated virtually a 3rd of Netflix subscribers let individuals who stay outdoors of their family use their account.

Recent headlines are warning people that Netflix will begin cracking down on password sharing by requiring extra password prompts and charging further charges for added customers – and a few subscribers based mostly in the United States (here, here, and here) are voicing their considerations on social media.  

Is Netflix testing methods to crack down on password sharing in the United States? 

• Chengyi Long, director of product innovation at Netflix
• Netflix spokesperson
• Independent test of Netflix consumer logins in the United States

No, Netflix will not be testing methods to crack down on password sharing in the United States. This is barely occurring in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru proper now. 

The controversy surrounding the password-sharing crackdown originated after Chengyi Long, Netflix’s director of product innovation, printed a news release titled “Paying to Share Netflix Outside Your Household” on the streaming service’s web site on March 16.

In the news launch, Long explains that Netflix will start testing two new options that cost subscribers to share their accounts. 

In the first new characteristic, commonplace and premium plan Netflix subscribers will be capable to add “sub accounts” for as much as two individuals they don’t stay with for round $3 per member. In the second new characteristic, Netflix subscribers with fundamental, commonplace, and premium plans can allow individuals who share their account to switch profile information both to a brand new account or a “sub account.” 

Long makes it clear in the news launch that Netflix is testing these options in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru — not the United States. 

“We’ll be working to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world,” Long wrote. 

A Netflix spokesperson additionally advised VERIFY that these exams wouldn’t be going down in the U.S. 

“We really want to see what learnings we can get from testing this in Chile, Peru, and Costa Rica first before we even consider going anywhere else, but we can affirmatively say that no, the U.S. is not in the plan,” the spokesperson stated. 

VERIFY independently checked whether or not Netflix is prompting customers in the U.S. to pay further charges when streaming on accounts outdoors their family and we have been in a position to log in with no points.

More from VERIFY: No, Disney+ didn’t drop ‘Anastasia’ due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine