Thousands of people cancelling their Netflix accounts after crackdown on password sharing begins

People are abandoning Netflix after the streaming giant introduced rules to crack down on password sharing.

Netflix has not had an easy time of it in recent months, with users of the platform becoming increasingly disgruntled. A combination of price increases and cancelling popular shows after just one or two seasons has done little to earn the iconic streaming platform much good grace. It seems that for many users, increased rules about password sharing was the final straw.

Pixabay

You can still use your Netflix account on your own devices. However, if you want to share Netflix with an account outside of your own household there are different features you can use. These include transferring a profile to a new paid membership, or buying an extra member on the plan.

These rules have caused consternation among users of the platform. Even without password sharing, many people will share accounts with family members or loved ones who live in different places. Previous rules meant that simply purchasing more users would allow you to watch on multiple profiles at the same time; for example, if you wanted to share an account with a long-distance partner or parent.

Now, however, this setup will no longer be possible, and users are not happy. A description of the new rules on the platform says: "Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with - your household."

This means that someone 'borrowing' an account outside of someone's household would lose access to Netflix, though the account holder would not.

Pixabay

For one user who has had an account since January 2013, this was too much. In a rant posted to Reddit, they complained about the falling standards on the platform.

They wrote: "Having to jump through additional hoops to stream shows while I travel is not something I have any interest in. I may just be one subscriber but I refuse to spend my cash on a company that is fiscally irresponsible and blows $100’s of millions on blockbuster movies that nobody wants and then tries to pass that charge on to their loyal consumer.

"Good luck netflix. I’ll just stick to streaming on HBOmax, Hulu, and Disney+. Not sure who convinced you this was a good ideas but I’m willing to bet you’ll find out soon it was not."

Netflix has also recently drawn criticism over its purchase of expensive blockbuster movies, while cancelling popular original shows. Other productions by the streaming platform have also garnered controversy. Henry Cavill quit flagship production The Witcher, with rumours arising that the show's star had left over creative differences.

With all this, new rules over account sharing could just be the tip of the iceberg for Netflix.