Netflix’s offer to Warner Bros ends up in the crosshairs of the American culture war

The harshest criticism came from the Republican front, with Senator Eric Schmitt accusing the company of wanting to establish not only a commercial but also a cultural monopoly. During the discussion, the alleged progressive orientation of the programming was contested, explicitly citing the presence of transgender characters as evidence of an excessively politicized editorial line. These protests are part of a complex competitive context, where Netflix must guard against the rival proposal of Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison, son of the co-founder of Oracle and a figure close to conservative circles.

While Democratic representatives attempted to bring the discussion back to purely regulatory and competition-related tracks, representatives such as Senator Ashley Moody reiterated that the variety of the offer and the limited options for consumers make the issue of content central to evaluating the opportunity of the operation. The battle for control of Warner Bros Discovery therefore remains suspended between industrial logic and an increasingly determined political pressure to limit the influence of digital giants on mass culture.