Netflix Targets Millions of ‘Freeloaders’ By Doubling Down on Password Sharing

The streaming giant’s latest test run could land more subscribers, but also risks its reputation

It’s been implied in the past, it’s been explored in the background and it’s officially happening: Netflix has had enough of people chilling and watching its content without paying, OK? (Image: Alexander Shatov, Unsplash)

The Streaming Wars of 2022 were always going to bring about a number of changes to the way the entertainment market currently works — globally as well as locally — but these seem to have started happening at a faster pace. Just a few days ago Disney announced its plans for an ad-supported tier for Disney Plus and now Netflix moves ahead with its own plans regarding password sharing (the use of its service by people who are not paying subscribers).

The company had made several comments about this in the past — and even had a few test runs — but it is now official: soon some Netflix subscribers will be asked to pay more for those profiles in their accounts that “do not live in the same household” as the owner of the subscription. In other words, for the “freeloaders” (family or friends) who the subscriber shares his/her Netflix access details with.

Depending on who you ask, anything between 25% to 35% of all Netflix accounts actively used belong to a different subscriber